Isabel Marant is French to her core, but she sure does have a fascination with Americana. As a follow-up to her cowgirl-at-the-rodeo show of last season—a collection that's trending big in the front rows this week—Marant looked at old pictures of Elvis, from his early days in Hawaii to his last Las Vegas hurrah, mixing them up with a few snapshots of Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin in Saint-Tropez.
Marant loves easy, casual pieces for summer, but what we saw on the runway today often looked surprisingly similar to her easy, casual pieces for winter. The embellished jeans, the quilted and embroidered coats, the lacy little separates—they all made reappearances. This time, instead of tooled suede and Western fringe, they were mixed in with black and white tropical floral-print shorts and button-down tops knotted at the midriff along with one-shoulder shirred dresses in bohemian paisleys.
Marant is keyed in to the fashion Zeitgeist, no doubt about that. She opened a new store on the Left Bank this week, and the long-awaited Melrose Place shop in Los Angeles will finally open early next year. All that floor space requires merchandise to fill it, and we have little doubt this collection will connect with shoppers the way previous ones have. Still, the designer runs the risk of repeating herself. What looked fresh: bathing suits worn as ready-to-wear. They'll be big in L.A. We're looking forward to seeing more new ideas like that one next time.
