Hurrah! After a few seasons showing in Paris in which Kym Ellery's collections have seemed overburdened by their ambitions, the Sydney-based designer got down to business today. This was a pared-down and relatively straightforward outing full of terrific clothes. Ellery had two main emphases: creating a lean, attenuated silhouette, and elaborating it with rich textures. The opening look established the theme: a pair of extra-long tweed trousers topped with a mesh undershirt and matching tweed singlet. The singlet had a buoyant flare, but this was a more measured take on the sculptural volumes Ellery has explored in the past. The tailoring was a highlight—lots of great pants—and the shirting, too, done in heavy-duty cottons with a touch of sheen. Ellery also scored with her long, almost monastic tank dresses, which kicked out under the hip. Those looks were exceedingly matter-of-fact, but they really worked.
When Ellery strayed into more experimental territory, the results were more mixed. A sheer fringed fabric was a bit of a head-scratcher, though it could have editorial appeal, and the voluminous strapless dresses in wool suiting fabric didn't really need the blazer pocket at the back to get the point across—that piece had a rigorous elegance, minus the decon wink.
One of the interesting things about Ellery is that she's a designer trying to rethink formal clothes—and nowhere was that more obvious than in her trouser-based looks for evening, where the pants were paired with cloudy tops of sculpted organza. The shapes could have been a touch more restrained, but the concept was solid. A bit more discipline, and a little more straightforwardness in the styling, and this show could have been a home run.
