This high-energy collection was one of design duo Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos’ strongest yet, rich with delicate silhouettes and naïve, folksy motifs inspired by the South American landscape — seen through the eyes of a child.
Pilotto and the half-Peruvian de Vos said they were inspired by their travels, and the conflation of pre-Colombian and European colonial cultures on that continent.
The result was a dreamy lineup of long Irish linen dresses done in macaron pastels adorned with gold embroidery here and there; airy lace gowns in plum or gold, some with delicate, colored macramé frills around the waist or sleeves, and others still with jaunty, cartoonish patches in the shape of mythical animals, folk figures, alligators, palm trees and hearts.
Rustling taffeta dresses — some with slits up the front, some with macramé edging and others adorned with a sad sun face crying a big crystal tear — had an 19th-century socialite feel, as if they’d been plucked from the pages of a Gabriel García Márquez novel.
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The collection wasn’t all sweeping gowns, though. The designers know there’s much fun to be had at a 21st-century South American beach, and to wit, there were gingham dresses with more of those fun folk patches, and off-the-shoulder denim ones, too, which were similarly adorned. A host of halter tops, small macramé bags and flower-print cotton dresses rounded out their offer.