“There is certainly more of a spirit of ‘combat’ than ‘zen’ in this collection,” said Camilla Freeman-Topper of Camilla and Marc’s Fall lineup today, chiming in from Sydney (the designer and her business partner/brother, Marc Freeman, did not make it to Paris this time around). Bits of militarism began to surface in their Pre-Fall roster (see those great double-breasted officer’s coats). Autumn, though, launches from said surface to air with a loosely soldierly mix of angularly cut blazers, camouflage lace netting and loads of army greens and navy blues.
The thing with this kind of diluted and prettified military inspiration is that, in recent years, Balmain and Givenchy have all but monopolized the look (and, in turn, so has Kim Kardashian West). The style feels post-trend, but maybe that’s not a detractor for Camilla and Marc—it is not a designer brand, and they sync with a more mainstream orbit. But from an analytical fashion eye, a lot on the racks recalled the not so distant past.
Some options here were quite nice, though, like a double-breasted, barely oversized trench in darkest oak brown wool. Same goes for a turtleneck worn under a double-face filigree dress and over arrow-straight, floor-saluting pants, all in lovely off-white. These were more direct than (and less derivative of) material floating around elsewhere; a bit of “zen” ultimately serving the “combat” well.
