After a stellar five years at the creative helm of Nina Ricci, Peter Copping is headed to Oscar de la Renta. Copping wound down his term at Ricci on a high note with a spring collection of beautiful, considered clothes that women will put on and feel pretty in without a second thought.
Derived from a late-Forties silhouette, the neat tops and slim skirts were less retro than renewed. Based on the house’s postwar history when Madame Ricci and her son Robert made scale models of couture dresses to promote French fashion, Copping titled the show “Make Do and Mend.” The idea of customizing old clothes during tough times — along with some Louise Bourgeois textile work, just because — led Copping to lace his looks with faux improvisation techniques, like top-stitching a jacket with a contrast color as if there was no more matching thread, or fashioning a skinny belt out of three leather shoe straps.
Copping took care of the special details. Classic blouses were interpreted as merino sweaters with open backs; pencil skirts came in two-toned double-face crepe — beige that reversed to pink and brown to powder blue — slit into panels; a sleeveless navy sequin tweed “jacket” was cut like a sporty tank to flaunt the shoulders; waffled and chunky knits gathered in soft georgette down the back.
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Let the record show that any woman who is “making do” with a Nina Ricci wardrobe deserves a pinch. Lucky ladies wear Nina Ricci…and Oscar de la Renta.