We have come to expect great showings from Oscar de la Renta, so, as always, we were keeping an eye out for Peter Copping and the Oscar de la Renta resort 2017 showing. For the season, things were kept happy and light, even falling to a patchwork trend to create feelings of nostalgia and lightness where it would otherwise not be found in dark colors or more mundane silhouettes. This type of design really gave a positive edge to the designer and to the brand overall.
“It’s about patchworking fabrics, ideas, and textures together,” said Copping during the lineup’s preview. This included classic, more matronly silhouettes being made fresh and modern through use of patchwork in a surprising way here.
Patchwork can mean so many different things to so many different people, that you never know quite where someone is going to take the concept. Copping decided to look directly at the idea of patchwork for this collection, and really play around with making a bunch of different themes and motifs work together in a cohesive manner, beginning by questioning the purpose of these mid-season collections in general.
“What does a resort collection mean?” He asked, rhetorically. “It can be very ‘buy-now-wear-now’ in November through to things that feel much more resort-resort.” And right he is.
There are no set rules or boundaries to what a resort collection should entail, and no designer has strived to set such limits. Because of this, Copping was able to create his mismatch collection of looks for all types of women, events, and times. When it comes right down to it, a collection is made to sell real clothing to real women, and that is where the fabulous commercial element is able to so successfully rear its head.
In the Oscar de la Renta resort 2017 collection all around, we were given some new ideas, some old ones, and some that married the two together. Some signatures of the house were included, like fitted skirt suits, tweed, and, of course, a myriad of dresses in various fabrics like lace, silk, and taffeta.
You know you’ll never be bored when a new de la Renta line comes out, especially due to the anticipation that comes from waiting for the slew of evening gowns that are bound to walk the runway come the end of the showing – and of course Copping wouldn’t be one to disappoint!
Beginning with looks like a floor-length, creamy white halter dress with colorful flowers near the hem, this is a summery look that the label will likely be marketing as one of the “buy now” suggested retail. Finishing out the line, on the other end of the spectrum, was a sheer, black lace, floor length dress with white crocheted florals overlaid. With a simple and chic sheath top and flowing, pooling bottom, this dress is a more languid design from de la Renta, and from the beginning of the end to the ultimate end, Copping did a great job at showing the range the design house is known for.
This is one showing that made us question the roots of resort collections, and we couldn’t be happier about it. When a patchwork showing is this strong, it doesn’t matter where the inspiration came from, all that matters is that the streets will be a much happier place with these clothes walking them.
Photos courtesy of Vogue
