You’re never too old to inspire. Certainly that’s the case with woman Etel Adnan, whose paintings struck Tory Burch’s fancy when the poet/artist/renaissance woman found fame a few years ago, in her late 80s, after a lifetime of creative expression.
What attracted Burch: Adnan’s unfettered plains of color in simply rendered landscapes, a natural source for the clean silhouettes and bold graphics the designer favors. Burch’s interest proved savvy, allowing her to push her sophisticated side more overtly than usual with motifs that, while landscape-inspired, were far from literal. Rather, they came in geometric prints and fabric blocks as disparate as a precise knitted dress with a chic school-girl vibe and a languid evening beauty, in swirled variants of lace. Colored in moody tones — navy, dark teal, burgundy — these should nudge devotees of Burch’s more flamboyant surface plays toward calmer renderings while luring steadfast solid-only types toward visual adventure. “You have to move your customer,” Burch said. “You can’t just do obvious things.”
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Still, she worked in some of the unfussy botanicals she loves for dresses, separates and a snazzy leather bomber. Throughout, she addressed the pre-fall yen for “wear now” clothes, rendering her darkish palette in relatively lightweight fabrics from knits to a laminated, waterproof cotton for outerwear. And Burch kept the mood deliberately relaxed, including her take on what has become fashion’s favorite way to sparkle: sequins for day.