This season’s Ports 1961 collection, designed and shot in the label’s Milan headquarters, represents a new beginning. Karl Templer in no longer creative director, even though he contributed to the styling ideas. The team has been renewed with a very clear objective: making the DNA of the brand resurface, starting from the founder, the Japanese-Canadian entrepreneur Luke Tanabe.
This was achieved by recreating the silhouettes used by Tanabe in the early ’60s. He was one of the first people to import collections styled and made in the West into China—clothes with dry silhouettes, with a sober aesthetic and a strong practical quality. Today’s collection followed suit: the coats, knitwear and cotton trousers were all straight and not oversized. Same goes for the shirts. The only evening gown was straight and flowing, with thermo adhesive strass applied.
The aim was to create a wardrobe of classic pieces, made more current through small and large details. There was a tailleur, but in a structured yet soft material, with visible topstitching. The coats were all double (pockets included): one side leather, the other shearling. The denim was conventional in design, but original in the manufacturing. It is called “spray denim” and uses a white denim with sewn on faux pockets and buttons, which is then sprayed with Blue Ports paint. The resulting effect, with the substitute details, is a saturated jean with strong contrasts. A vintage feel pervaded all the looks, including the viscose rompers and the knitwear with various textures, from bouclé to bubble.
Then, the metal spheres. Present on zips, jewels and belt buckles, they called back to the original logo of Ports 1961. The globe is a symbol of the experiment of international storytelling through clothes.
