Something about California is super captivating to the French. There's even a popular T-shirt about the phenomenon: "Je pars habiter à Los Angeles," it reads. The slogan isn't Alexis Martial's creation (that honor belongs to L.A. local and designer Jasmin Shokrian), but it could've come from his brain this season. The Iceberg creative director was inspired by Southern California—the intense colors, its seedy strip malls, the people's obsession with being physically fit. It made for his best collection yet for Iceberg: confident and vivid and, thanks to the sport influences, easy to wear.
The silhouette was narrow and lean, with belts perched high on the waist to elongate the legs. It hasn't been a notable week for pants in Milan, so Martial's stood out—note the high rise, the double pleats, and the Iceberg logo on the turned-up cuffs. He paired them with collaged print snap-front shirts, pinstripe baseball jerseys, or sexy little tops that bared the shoulders and most of the back. As for skirts, they were mini and A-line or curvier with asymmetrical hems.
Iceberg has a history of using comic strip characters on its sweaters. Martial smartly swapped them out for a logo sweatshirt in a video game font and novelty knits that could've been poking fun at SoCal's health food freaks. The dragon fruit sweaters don't bear too much analysis. Neither does a series of chiffon pieces with appliqués that look like a school kid's sticker collection. But that doesn't mean they weren't a kick.
