Roses at Maria Cornejo? No, she hasn't gone all sentimental on us. Cornejo remains the smart, arty designer she's always been. Her Pre-Fall rose prints were actually lifted from moss and lichen formations on rocks she spotted on a recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park. In other words, they had a nice, graphic quality, not unlike the other prints here, which were also borrowed from nature. This collection was urban-minded, with nipped-waist jackets and pencil skirts. But rendered in sturdy cotton, the pieces had an adventurous spirit befitting clothes that arrive in stores in early summer, a time when we'd all rather be, if not in the actual desert, then at least in the great outdoors. Elsewhere, Cornejo gave her best-selling jumpsuit a tweak in a great-looking (and great-feeling) Japanese indigo, and continued to develop her leather offering. Bonded with more of that rugged cotton, a bomber had a bold, sculptural shape. We also liked the weight of her brushed jacquard outerwear. But the real stars here were the naturalistic prints.
