Lela Rose is thinking about buying a painting. A László Moholy-Nagy painting. So it's perhaps unsurprising that the Bauhaus artist's linear, geometric shapes permeate Rose's latest collection. "I was thinking about the geometry of stripes, circles, grids…but a blurred grid. I always like a weird edge," the designer said at her studio.
The weird edges are there for Resort. A shakily drawn grid print added the right amount of frazzle to a sweet periwinkle organza tea dress, and a beige-and-ivory-striped bandeau gave a black floral appliquéd top and black-and-ivory-striped skirt a hip vibe. When Rose does straight pretty—a colorful geraniums-on-ivory A-line dress, for instance—it's a bit of a letdown. The same print in a sexier off-the-shoulder, hip-hugging style was more effective. A full circle skirt in a fil coupe print of jagged, mismatched black and ivory rectangles further emphasized that Rose's slightly off-kilter approach is what keeps her brand fresh.
