Pablo Coppola is carefully redeveloping the ready-to-wear architecture of Bally into a luxurious reconciliation of now and then, in which the womenswear and menswear are linked yet distinct. Here, the connective membrane between the genders was the angora wool buffalo plaid shirt. Hipster-luxe in Coppola's menswear collection, in Resort—teamed with a flat flap-pocket trucker and an apron-pocketed A-line, both in calfskin—it formed part of a sleeker yet nostalgia-touched suite of propositions. He visited Waspy wholesome (silky blazer-buttoned peacoat, Morsetto hardware loafers and belt, denim, white shirt); buckskin gamine (fringed shirtdresses in suede and calf); Charlie's Angels (tight-thighed, kick-calfed pantsuits); and retro-futurist (a tangerine mini-skort suit). The cellophane yarn that ran through ribbed knit crop tops left them looking challengingly shrunken on the rails—apparent victims of a Laundromat calamity—but on the flesh they had a crunchily texturized sheerness. The fly-lure print on piped pajama suits and chevron sliced shifts seemed a touch arbitrary, as it sort of was, but it worked out fine. The concept was thoughtfully defined, the execution precise—right down to the hand-painted edging on a leather caban—and the results (on the whole) were pretty effective: Bally good show.
