Stephanie Danan had a clear directive for Co’s resort collection. “She’s a no apologies kind of woman,” she said. “No-nonsense. Has her shit together.” The attitude was evident in clothes that are in-your-face and sometimes “a little bit off.” A pencil skirt with a contrasting layer of white pleated fabric; sweaters with extra-wide shoulders that cinch at the waist, leathers that are scratched, cracked, and worn-in.

The tailoring was the collection’s strongest point. A double-breasted suit in wool melange with strong-but-slightly droopy shoulders and a
nipped-in waist was severe, which contrasted with the model’s criss-cross cone heel sandals and undone bob in a way that made the silhouette real, while an eggplant double-breasted tailored jacket had an unexpected ribbed knit detail on the collar and cuffs. But even when the suiting was a pure version of itself, the styling evoked a more laissez-faire vision: see the monochromatic gray single-breasted suit worn with a matching button down shirt, worn untucked, and topped off with an also-matching trench coat. It was tough and yet it was also… pajamas. Devious!

Duchess satin pieces, like a bomber jacket, or a trench-inspired jacket and matching skirt, were similarly subversive; from so feminine a fabric, Danan managed to extract an energy of untouchability. “As I get older and I start to think of not just the things that I wear, but who I am as a woman, one thing that seems to become more and more evident is a sense of confidence and not needing any validation,” she said. “There’s this idea that when a woman doesn’t need validation, she’s a little bit feared, and there’s a lot of power in that.”