There were unexpected utilitarian touches and an overall sense of restraint to Colangelo’s fall collection, which skewed graphic and minimal in a refreshing way.
Seeking to embrace women’s needs for practicality, the designer put the signature tailor-obsessive ethos to a different test, toying, for example, with a high-necked puffy bomber — far from the Colangelo vocabulary — in waxed cotton and padded with pressed down, paired with flared sartorial pants, or in the cloaks and capes layered atop removable quilted vests.
In her ongoing research into the sculptural archetypes that define the female body, Colangelo inserted whalebones along the shoulder line of geometric belted trenchcoats in mixed-media panels; lapel-less, double-breasted topcoats in raw-hemmed woolen double, or blazers with a high-buttoning notch lapel that recalled the precision of ‘90s tailoring.
The result was often a T-shaped silhouette, with a nipped or cinched waist and emphasis on the shoulders, counterpointed by the fluidity of handkerchief frocks with built-in, trailing scarves and the Fortuny plissé tunics and skirts in bronze Lurex cut on the bias to enhance the movement.
The brand’s arty-crafty DNA came to the fore in the wool jacquards enriched with bleached feathers. They framed the hem of a tank top, appeared on the front of a pencil skirt and were plied into a dramatic jacket that oozed loud sophistication.
