Cédric Charlier did a trunk show tour of the U.S. with Barneys earlier this spring. He's situated himself in the retail sweet spot between high contemporary and low designer, where a workday dress isn't going to cost a girl a week's paycheck. For Resort, the dress that'll have clients whipping out the plastic is a sleeveless, asymmetric wrap style in color-blocked green and cement gray—easy but pulled together.
That's a fitting description for the whole collection, which was big on graphic prints and acid colors, sometimes in zippy combinations, like a turquoise ribbed knit worn with an emerald green crepe pencil skirt, or a hot coral pantsuit paired back to a lemon tee. The prints were influenced by a collection of photographs Jackie Nickerson published under the name "Another Africa." Charlier called them abstracted landscapes, but that's putting the emphasis on abstract; they looked more like the scribbles and doodles of an idle artist. And in that way they were a bit reminiscent of his Spring collection in stores now.
Still, Charlier has his eye on the future. He had his own take on what's shaping up to be the pant of the season, a flowy wide-leg style cropped at mid-calf.
