Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro called their new collection "Haute Bohemia" in honor of their favorite moment from the seventies, when Yves Saint Laurent and the Parisian jeunesse dorée were adding new colors to decadence. It was specifically YSL's epochal Russian moment that Clements Ribeiro picked up on. "Opulence for day-to-day life," was how Inacio described it. So there was a luxe overload of print, embroidery, and appliqué in the clothes, but always with a slightly eccentric English ease.
The collection's definitive outfit was probably a languid cardigan appliquéd with crystal embroidery, layered over a paisley blouse and gilded jacquard pants tucked into Cossack boots. On paper, it reads as extravagantly costumey, but in the flesh the extravagance had a winningly casual quality, just like the style of Loulou de la Falaise, the YSL muse who has always been Clements Ribeiro's benchmark. In fact, they named one look after her. A few menswear looks inspired by the fellows in the YSL gang offered a semi-respite from the richness. There was a navy peacoat, for instance, and a fur-collared camel coat, plus one in gray flannel whose frogged closing was scarcely less ornate than the detailing on a little gay hussar jacket in black astrakhan wool. Suzanne and Inacio built their old business on an idiosyncratic combination of seductive luxury and reassuring ease. It looks like history is about to repeat.
