The cactus garden in the center of the Space Age set at Iceberg provided only a partial hint of its spring collection. On Alexis Martial’s mood board backstage, cactus images were juxtaposed with photos of Memphis furniture designs, Eighties sportswear and kids covered in stickers.
What did they have in common? An almost naïve approach to shape and color, beginning with the oversize shirts in a patchwork of materials, one of which was paired with a fuchsia miniskirt with patch pockets and Velcro-fastened platform shoes.
“It had to really smell like summer — fresh air, California, colors, cacti, a road trip. It was like, Let’s put the kids in the car and go!” the designer explained backstage.
Martial gave a more grown-up spin to the collage concept with skirts featuring curved panels made of monochrome prints of a baseball pinstripe, a squiggle design and a densely embroidered pattern resembling TV static that he spliced together.
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There was an unaffected joy to the Eighties-style video-game and dragon-fruit motifs that appeared on sweatshirts, and the tiny colored sticker design printed on a white chiffon dress, among others. But these girly elements distracted from Martial’s real strength — clean, sporty tailoring with a confident vibe.