In the Bette Davis classic Now Voyager, Charlotte Vale celebrates her transformation from browbeaten frump to elegant aristocrat with a lengthy cruise. In true Old Hollywood form, Vale’s confidence boost is illustrated through clothes, Davis trading her high-necked blouses and shapeless dresses for the bold look of 1940s fashion. What Vale wears at her destination is just as important as where she’s headed. When she emerges from the ship’s cabin resplendent in Orry-Kelly costumes, the audience knows things are about to get interesting.
For their resort 2022 showing Mark Badgley and James Mischka conjured a similarly evocative mood, with Davis’s heroine and Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa Lund in Casablanca serving as starting points. “We were going over some of our favorites during the pandemic and just rewatching these older movies,” shared Mischka via Zoom. “In Casablanca, you have those suits with strong shoulders and flowing pants, everything that Bergman wore was incredible, and even her personality; being the most dangerous woman in the most dangerous city in the world was powerful. Then [you have] Davis when she transforms into that beautiful social butterfly during the cruise, and she and [Paul Henreid] share cigarettes. There’s so much glamour and romance in those films, it’s what inspired the collection.”
The references were retro but the clothes dealt with 21st-century concerns. Namely, what to wear for reemergence. “Our customer is traveling again; she’s so tired of her athleisure and sitting at home,” says Badgley. “Now what she wants are clothes that will make her happy and keep her excited, in a cute way she wants to show off again.”
For Badgley and Mischka, the key was showing that swagger while prioritizing comfort. The models posing in private planes within the brand’s look book were dressed to the nines in high drama pieces, but the materials were relaxed. A copper satin set with wide-leg pants and puff sleeves set the tone; visually arresting but as cozy as a tracksuit, it’s the kind of no-fuss item guaranteed to work for multiple occasions. Likewise, a tea-length dress with hothouse flowers decorating its skirt could be pulled out of a carry-on and worn without ironing. A sapphire paillette-covered suit was cut long and loose for maximum ease.
Eveningwear is the brand’s bread and butter, but even the occasion dressing was focused on simplicity. The big story was monochromatic gowns accented by a single statement detail, often at the waist. Silver crystals curving around a black column gown or oversized sashes on color-blocked red and white dresses were nice, but the look that summed everything up was a scuba gown with an asymmetrical ruffled hem that wrapped up the collection with a giant bow.
