Narciso Rodriguez, RST12, New York.
There was a certain graphic utilitarianism to the recent Resort 2012 collection from Narciso Rodriguez. The silhouettes of the collection were carefully resolved with an immaculate sense of proportion that seemed to reference YSL’s mondrian dress as bold borders and stripes dissected the body.
It was also a collection of simple shapes that made the most of subtle variations – the use of navy rather than classic black softened the edges of the grid lines, and the interplay between matte and silk satin fabrics helped to catch the light in different ways. There are also some interesting construction details in the oversized pockets and the utilitarian fastenings such as the zips, drawstrings and elasticised waistbands. And the colours were particularly luminous, with pinks and reds so vivid that they almost appeared to be back lit.
Comprised of such easily wearable pieces, this collection is deceptively simple. In reality there is an intelligently sensual mix of body con and cocoon silhouettes, and it is a tightly edited collection with incredibly flattering use of colour blocking.
Catwalk images from Vogue.com»
