Thakoon Panichgul has been the go-to guy for a pretty party dress with a thoughtful twist for most of the past decade. Lately he's been more interested in menswear, but not straight-up menswear, mind you. His pinstripes and banker's shirts come with twists of their own. Riffing on ideas he began exploring for Spring, he draped and wrapped cotton broadcloth onto a ribbed knit dress for a supremely laid-back take on a one-shoulder cocktail frock, and combined the same shirting material with an abstract floral. The result: a slouchy tunic with tons of personality. The collection had personality in spades. There was an off-kilter, almost askew sensibility to fisherman's sweaters with just one sleeve; they'll stand out in the stores. Jogging pants in a men's pinstriped wool and a wool gabardine bomber with lace sleeves were less surprising but still playful. He kept a sense of experimentation going in the outerwear with a tweedy trench covered in tufty white leopard spots. As for the customer who's looking for one of his signature quirky-cool party dresses, Panichgul had those, too, in the form of crisscross bodice numbers with matching cutouts front and back. The star of the show: a shirtdress in a vibrant red with a gray floral motif worn under a silvery jacquard Air Force jacket, complete with regulation orange lining.
