Thakoon Panichgul, like Marc Jacobs before him, is consolidating his signature and little sister collections. "It's the way retailers have been selling them, side by side," he said by way of explanation. Resort is the first time Panichgul gave his high- and lower-priced lines the same overall message, so he felt it was important to really dig into what both offerings have stood for in the past. It meant that what he presented today had the feeling of a greatest hits collection. It also looked just plain great. There's truly something to be said for not asking a designer to split his attention among multiple brands.
On the upper end, he did some fabulous party dresses, including a low-cut iris-print number on a navy background that has been a best-seller before in other colors, and a black-and-white long-sleeve version of the same motif that wasn't a dress at all, but a clingy bodysuit and light-as-air asymmetric-hem skirt. On the lower end were the unique cotton shirts that Panichgul has made his trademark, this time trussed up with lacing details. In the middle, he explored novel denim shades (a blue so light it was almost white) and silhouettes (a strapless minidress), and went to town with his knits. These ranged from a chunky tunic dress with fringe that gave it a poncho vibe to generously proportioned twinsets (a real buy now/wear now November treat). Best of all was a black-and-white striped piqué dress inset with lace.
