Asked for the obligatory inspiration soundbite backstage after her spring Tibi show, Amy Smilovic rattled this off: “A little bit of Edwardian proportions. Strong color. Finding a way to do corsetry and big shoulders and everything in a way that’s very eased out and modern and not costume-y. The way that you want to wear it.” Her last thought was the most important one. Holding her collections to that elusive standard has been the driving force behind Tibi’s retail resonation the last few years, and Smilovic kept it up for spring.
Edwardian blouses, corsets and strong color are all nice, appealing ideas but they can intimidate. Smilovic finessed them with clean, modernist treatments, turning out blouses that were spare in the body and with controlled volume on the sleeves, taking some of the sizzle out of corsets by showing them over T-shirts and tempering bold green, yellow and robin’s egg blue with navy, white and khaki. The collection was also rife with the big, high-waisted pant silhouette that is in the air, as well as cool sculptural earrings done in collaboration with Paige Novick.