In his Paris showroom this past June, Judy Turner’s Conley Averett appeared to be at a crossroads.
It wasn’t that he was melancholy. Rather, he seemed to be pondering the thing that all ascendant designers must tackle: creativity versus commerciality. Sadly, it can’t be all of the former and none of the latter–Averett mentioned that he was feeling the weight of needing to appease broader retailer and client appetites as Judy Turner becomes more established.
Knits are his forte, and they remained so in this collection. A chunky-knit cardigan was a standout, featuring a new checkered tab motif that carried over to an unstructured bucket hat.
Otherwise, crinkled and shiny separates added technicality and some dynamism, but a bandeau skirt with diamond paneling leading to a kind of multi-mermaid tail hemline was awkward in appearance, and a blue-green dress with a deep-U cutout down the back didn’t feel like it had much in the way of Averett’s proven cleverness. He has some pondering left to do.
