Isabel Marant is opening her second U.S. store this September on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. No wonder the French designer came up with a frontier-girl theme for Fall. Marant loves Americana, and so do the fans: Her Navajo-inspired knits from last year are still going strong. This time around, the look is girlier—more Calamity Jane than Buffalo Bill, what with all the lace doily tops and the pleated and frilled silk miniskirts. We're talking about well-trodden ground here, no doubt, but Marant makes it new.
Something about her relaxed yet sexy approach gives an item as clichéd as a yoked cowgirl shirt an instant It quality. And the studded, embroidered, and quilted jean jackets? They're collector's items, capable of spawning miles-long wait-lists at her shops. The fashion cognoscenti have started to find the slouchy yet skinny jeans, the half-tucked shirts, and the tooled leather ankle boots a bit too predictable, but it's hard to argue with the cool factor of a red leather top laser-cut in an eagle design, or an Ultrasuede dress with the same motif picked out in micro-studs. But it wasn't all familiar territory, either. Amid the shrunken this and the fitted that, the oversize cavalry coats looked like a growth opportunity.
