Emilio de la Morena has been on a diet lately. A fashion diet, that is: His last two collections have found him reducing the sugariness of his clothes, paring back the frip and frou and emphasizing muscular silhouettes. Some good looks emerged from those efforts, but overall the clothes felt tentative, experimental. This season de la Morena has found his level, keeping his outfits crisp without sacrificing his signature tone of femininity. A dress with a camisole top and softly pleated short skirt asserted the simplicity principle best; the look was even more appealing after you found out that the zipper at the waist was functional and the dress separated into a gamine top and skirt. Zips were one of de la Morena's design elements here; the other was lace. Both were new to his vocabulary and he used them well, with great specificity and a sense of sophistication. Nice work.
