There was a lot to take in at Rosie Assoulin’s fall presentation. Her show space was strewn with vintage chaises, sofas and fainting couches, many of them covered in plastic like the furniture at your grandmother’s house. There were Persian rugs and coffee tables set with tiered trays of Syrian pastries and tea. It was fun and warm — and hospitable, which was one of the many words Assoulin used to describe the mood she wanted to approximate. The clothes, too, were bright and welcoming, many of them beautiful — they way you would want your home to be.
Talking to Assoulin about the collection, it seemed like there were so many ideas flooding her brain that she struggled to process them all linearly. The lineup, too, had a free-association quality. It’s better to have an abundance of ideas than too few, but a clear direction does wonders for a business.
There were vegan shoes with ottoman and claw-foot heels that she made on her own for the first time. Real and silk flowers, inspired by artist Jim Hodges, were stitched into some of the clothes. The artist who created her urn-shaped earrings on a mini pottery wheel was on site, at work and situated next to a 3-D printer.
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Clearly an interiors motif was afoot. Many of the models, lined up around the perimeter of the set, were wearing dresses cut from upholstery fabrics — colorful silk moire and damask, big floral jacquards that could belong to a bedspread. One girl in a fresh, light white wrap top and skirt sprinkled with flowers was carrying a bag that looked like an oversize bolster pillow. Asked specifically about the interiors idea, Assoulin said, “It wasn’t an idea like, ‘Let’s go with interiors,’ we just kept pulling things — moire and damask….it was just the idea of empowering a woman in her home. It’s not a negative thing to be a homemaker.”
Some of the looks would certainly make grand, hostess-with-the-mostess attire: a nude camisole with a sprig of fake red flowers at the shoulder worn with a sculptural red ball skirt, a marigold moire dress with a high waist and big skirt over matching pants. Other pieces fit more naturally into everyday life, such as a beautiful multicolored patchwork embroidered silk robe to glam up jeans and an Aran knit sweater strung with crystals. The closets in this proverbial house were full. Marie Kondo would have a field day.