If there were any lingering doubts about Pringle¿s identity or the viability of another British revival, Clare Waight Keller went a long way to putting them to rest today. She opened the show with a look that nicely referenced the Scottish cashmere house's heritage: a double layer of slate-gray cable sweaters topping a short, flirty skirt with a ruffle circling the hips. In a season of luxe, chunky knits, hers were the best yet: dense and cozy, without being droopy. And they were innovative to boot. The yoke of a black A-line coat was cashmere crochet, the collar of a silvery lambskin jacket was an oversize mohair cable. Meanwhile, color-blocked fine-gauge cashmere layers—tunics over turtlenecks over slim skirts—looked almost weightless.
Riffing on and simultaneously moving beyond the company¿s foundations, Waight Keller used a woven fabric, printed trompe l¿oeil-style to look like an oversize knit, for a bubble dress and a lamp-shade number. Poufy volumes are still a fixation in Milan, but—credit her tenure at Gucci—she also cut a convincing skinny pant. And she nailed evening, too. A burgundy silk-satin top worn over a matching skirt with pleats and a banded hem balanced polish and cool in equal measure. Like other outfits in this show, it proved Pringle can give young women what they really want.
