Efficiency, strategy, diversification: All are words unlikely to inspire any red-blooded dance floor–haunter to seize a rose between her teeth and tango until dawn. And yet as she talked through Temperley London’s broadly Hispanic folk dandy–themed Pre-Fall collection today, its author was afire thanks to the fruits of her strategy to fold her brands into one then diversify its output into a broader offer.
Sales of Spring ‘16’s Cuba collection are 30 percent up on its previous equivalent, Alice Temperley said. New accounts include Le Bon Marché and Lane Crawford. Which is why for Pre-Fall she’s pushing forward with a formula heavier on the daywear than hitherto. Temperley’s take on daywear is, well, very Temperley—romantic and womanly. Think Biba-touched maxi skirts and dresses in georgette tiered with stratae of photo-prints, or in silk-cotton sateen gridded with floral embroidery. The scalloped lace fringe that played delicate aura to a violet shirt’s cuffs and bib was echoed in the graphic cutaways on skirts. An off-shoulder dress spotted with twisted whorls of sequins was both easy to wear and high impact.
Temperley’s fondness for full-length, nighttime decadence remains, as does her keenness on offering (and wearing) well-thought-through feminine tailoring: This time round she stressed leaner silhouettes with high-waist sailor pants, and had some satisfyingly dramatic lightweight, double-collar greatcoats. Now, though, those long-time touchstones are translating fluently through to highly versatile, (barely) pared-down, “day-occasion” pieces.
