You can learn a lot from a T-shirt. London-based designer Graeme Armour, for instance, has been fêted in the press and gotten plenty of look-sees from key retailers for his sharply gothic clothes, but it wasn't until he made a range of jersey pieces—initially exclusive to Japan—that he found himself with a sales hit on his hands. This season, as he debuts his first Resort collection, Armour is integrating the jerseys into his mainline. Moreover, he seems to have internalized the lesson of their success, dedicating himself to making clothes that are forthrightly more accessible and wearable than they have been until now.
"Wearable" and "accessible" typically read as euphemisms for "boring," but not in Armour's case. To wit, check out his sheer mesh pocket tee, a more subtle thing than it looks. The shoulders are oversized and rounded—a signature of this collection—and the sleeves are cut open, so they flutter around. Those kinds of construction details matter; they make a simple piece distinctive. Same goes for the sweatshirt-shaped tops with sly sheer inserts and draped jersey dresses with a come-hither opening at the hip. Armour is very good at sexy; he knows how to be tasteful about it. Here, his most vixenish pieces, like a cropped halter top in micro-pleated viscose, fused easily with more androgynous looks, such as a pair of cuffed silk trousers in blackwatch plaid, or a boxy black and white plaid shirt with leather collar and trim. There was a bit more color than usual, thanks to those checks, and a bit more playfulness, which is welcome. Armour is on the right track.
