Etro's Paisley Inspiration at the Cooper Hewitt

Recently the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York City put up an interesting exhibit of the historic textiles that inspired Veronica Etro’s Spring/Summer 2018 Tree of Life collection.

While I’ve owned the odd piece (a hair turban, a bikini, a silk chiffon scarf, a pair of velvet flats . . . ) I’ve never been fully at home with Etro.

On one hand I so enjoy the school of fashion design they embody: multigenerational Italian family business; super-luxe textiles; intense and intricate details and trim, always. Though the company was founded in the 60s and sourced its signature swirling paisley in India, it very much gives me those Renaissance Venetian trade goods vibes.

The Etro DNA that doesn’t flatter me personally includes the palette (olive, mustard, merlot and lime always reappear), and the tendency of the garments to “wear me”. For those reasons, it’s much easier for me to incorporate the Etro home collection into my life than the womenswear.

To be clear, these are not criticisms! Etro is beautifully designed and produced, and perfectly focused for a specific woman, I’m just not the Etro woman in terms of coloring/personality.

I still enjoyed the exhibit, which showed how artifacts in the Etro archive directly influenced the silhouettes, prints and embellishments in the S/S 2018 collection.

Paisley provokes such strong associations: the wall hanging purchased during a gap year, the shawl on the piano in spaghetti Westerns, the underside of patio umbrellas in the 70s.

There’s no symbolism with paisley, just abstraction. Paisley gets you thinking! And the more time you spend staring at the intricacy of the iterations, the more likely your brain will leap from thinking to dreaming . . .

CAMP: Notes on Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I’ve only seen the line for a Costume Institute exhibit this long twice before in my lifetime of Met membership: Jackie O, and Alexander McQueen.

Camp was fun, obvious, and waaaaaaaayyy too heavy on Jeremy Scott for Moschino.

Or, “Camp is JUDY GAAAAAAHHHHHHLAND,” as one of the dramatic piped in soundbites (I think it’s Simon Doonan?) quips.

The crowd was great . . . lots of fashion people, lots of insta handle exchanges.

The BCBG of Inès de la Fressange

Model, Aristo, Entrepreneur . .  

Inès de la Fressange is the definition of bon chic, bon genre. She's also one of those rare women who somehow get better looking with age. The daughter of a marquis, an icon of beauty at 18, Karl Lagerfeld's exclusive muse for 6 years (that's a long time for that petty man!), her bio makes you expect her to look a certain way . . . that she doesn't. 

Her style is preppy, androgynous, quintessentially French: casual jeans-and-tee looks rescued by a killer pair of Viviers, mussed up bob, and slick of red lipstick. I'm a huge fan of elevated lazy (as an aesthetic, not a personal attitude!) and Mlle de la Fressange is the Queen.

In a 1991 interview she said a navy cashmere sweater was her favorite item of clothing. 1991! That was the year Gianni Versace did neon Warhol print spandex. Can we take a quiet moment to reflect on the refinement of this woman?

Inès has been a French style Icon for 40 years. If you are looking for an authority on Parisian chic, she literally wrote the book.

So how did I almost miss her Uniqlo Collab Collection?!? No matter, almost all is still available and about half is now on sale. AND IT IS GOOD.

All the pieces are demure, timeless, and very casual. The collection works in a very limited, classic palette (white, ivory, navy, baby blue and pink, with the very occasional touch of faded red or grass green); its variety is in the silhouettes: there are classic cuts appropriate for every body type here. The fabrics are also good quality; most everything is 100% cotton or cotton/linen blend, with just a few rayon or rayon blend pieces. 

Inès de la Fressange did not pull any of the oft-seen tricks used by fashion designers collaborating with low-end retailers, such as endless poly chiffon scarves and cheap tote bags, or outlandish prints that burn into memory as 'from the cheap line' (rather than allow for a future in which they are mistaken for something boutique). I really appreciate her kind consideration and pragmatism.

So let's break it down:

1. Collared shirts for every body type

If you want to cover up your arms, or belly, or cleavage, you've got options. There is just enough detail to feel special (a cuff in a contrasting print; a red embroidered buttonhole). 

2. classic layering sweaters

They're great alone, they're great over any of these shirts or dresses.

3. Easygoing skirts and dresses

Wear them with sexy heels for a striking contrast, wear them with boat shoes to just get on with your day, ride a bike in them whatever your footwear.

4. navy and white slacks in midcentury cuts

These are mercifully acceptable on any body type, at any age.

5.  finish up with a simple blazer and bag

To get the signature IdlF look, wear any of these ensembles with the hems rolled up in layers, a crossbody bag and a flashy pair of flats or single outstanding jewel. To dress up, keep the pieces and proportions the same, but up the ante on the textiles piece by piece- a silk blouse, velvet jacket, brocade flats, satin slacks, or jeweled purse.

If (when!) you fall in love with the IdlF mode of dressing, you can shop her namesake boutique online. They ship worldwide.

Here are my current favorite picks:

“You are never too old and you should never lose interest in what’s new now.”

— Inès de la Fressange

Are you as obsessed with her as I am?