Five years ago, Kate Middleton wore an Issa dress for her engagement pictures and made the brand famous. Today, the Duchess of Cambridge has moved on from Issa—she doesn't wear it much, if at all, anymore—and Issa is moving on, too. But not entirely. The sixth look in this collection is "The Kate Middleton" but with a higher hem, deeper neckline, encrustations of beading, and two smallish but very much in situ shoulder pads. Shoulder pads! On a Kate Middleton? "She will always be there," said creative director Jamie O'Hare, "but it will be a different take each season."
Overall, Resort finds the brand evolving from a wrap-dress and print-jersey specialist into something with a heftier commercial depth of field. O'Hare said: "I'm trying to stay close to what Issa is. And it's quite fun, actually, limiting yourself. To what I can do with jersey, what I can do with a twist, what I can do with drape, a wrap—because what you can do is endless." True, but there were new elements here, like jersey jacquard, among reflections on the old—the distorted animal print, the mega-worked embroidery, the engineered caftans. The prissy respectability of Issa is being redeveloped into something that will suit a brasher, bolder flavor of princess.
