It would be too coarse to label Alice Temperley's leap from London to the New York schedule as a British invasion. The show was so delicate and Shakespearean you'd think it glided in on gossamer wings. Temperley has enjoyed rapid and abundant success since she introduced her line in 2000, and part of her reason for showing here, she said, was to acknowledge the overwhelming support she has received in the States. In a further show of gratitude, and business savvy, she's setting up shop within the month on Melrose Place in Los Angeles.
An overtly feminine loveliness is at the heart of Temperley's line, and the collection was full of the ornamented dresses and geometric knits for which she's become known. This season, cotton and silk dresses in colors like sweet pea, rose, aubergine, and blue featured appliqué and crochet inserts. Others had silver sequins in a glittery cobweb motif, and near the end, some dresses had mirror embroidery. There was a presiding bohemian theme, which the designer described as South American, but felt transcontinental in a Talitha Getty sort of way. Some draped and striped numbers, as well as a few jackets and tunics, popped up here and there, but this was a show about dresses, distinctly Temperley dresses, that "celebrate being a woman."
