At first blush, you wouldn't think there'd be much in common between Jeremy Scott and Emilio de la Morena. Scott is congenitally pop-tastic, De la Morena cerebral and unassuming. Yet they wound up on the same wavelength this season, at least kind of: Just as Scott had at Moschino, De la Morena's Resort collection emphasized engineered bandanna print, and beyond that, there was a Scott-like Pop surrealism to De la Morena's promiscuous use of bows. No need to stretch the comparison too far—you wouldn't confuse this collection with one by Jeremy Scott. But De la Morena was exploring his own kind of playful tone, and he was in top-notch form. The focus was on party dresses, at which De la Morena excels, and for the most part he hewed to short skirts and flared silhouettes. There was a fair amount of variety, though: A strapless minidress in a white bandanna print was made from stiff, sculpt-able silk that had been bonded to neoprene, while a second short, white strapless number in ruffled 3-D dotted cotton muslin was totally frothy. Elsewhere, De la Morena showed off his nervy sense of color, especially in a fully pleated minidress of lemon yellow, burgundy, and mint green. There was also a nice variety in the silhouettes—the short, flared looks will be popular with young ladies who have a jam-packed party schedule—but the very best looks here had a more sophisticated mien, and longer hemlines. A tied-up sleeveless blouse looked dead chic paired with either a soft silk skirt that grazed the knee or a sharp pencil skirt in the silk/neoprene. Those looks were still playful but very adult. Kudos.
