According to Karoline Vitto, there were only two styles of tops in her fall lineup of sophisticated takes on Y2K tropes such as low-riding trousers, spaghetti tops and bared midriffs.
One could be worn as a halter-neck blouse, a sleeveless high-neck with a long lavallière and several one-shoulder asymmetric ways.
It’s all about working smarter, not harder, on the constructions.
“I just think there’s so much that can come from cut in terms of design,” said this selfavowed pattern-cutting devotee. “Cut is just pretty informed by the actual body that goes in there – change the body, you change the cut and that’s really most exciting.”
No lazy elasticated waists here. Her arsenal included zipped gussets built into the side of trousers, part cool detailing, part on-the-go size adjustment; and an elastic structure inside a tailored waistband, ensuring the right fit without having to size up or down. Dresses felt generous in cut but details derived from bias-cut asymmetric constructions and draping made them also look interesting.
It’s an ambitious approach for an independent label with an eye towards inclusivity, given the costs of developing additional sizes, but it’s also where she feels the industry can do better. “I think [brands] need to hire the most amazing pattern cutters that work with extended sizes and do some cool stuff,” she added.
Taking a broader view, the Brazilian-born designer is taking the industry to task on its pullback on body diversity. In her show notes, she remarked that “curve model casting had all but frozen over” in recent seasons due to the absence of those forging ahead in that direction.
As Vitto put it, “the weight of body diversity should not rest on a handful of designers.”
Proof that it’s possible at scale? A collaboration with Inditex-owned Pull&Bear – spanning a dozen style for women and for the first time, men – dropped on the morning of her show.
