For a Spring season, there’s been remarkably little heat on the runway. It’s been one more or less sexless show after another, then along comes Anthony Vaccarello. The Belgian-Italian designer, as his fans and his detractors like to say, never met a slit he didn’t like, and in typical fashion this show was full of them. But there were also other things happening, new things that made this outing feel like Vaccarello’s most diverse to date. Take, for instance, the T-shirt and tank dresses printed with a closeup of his friend and muse Anja Rubik’s face. As they approached, it became clear that the dresses weren’t printed at all, but rather embellished with gradient clusters of studs depicting photographer Collier Schorr’s portrait of the unmistakable model. Just think of the Instagram possibilities.
Also novel: Tattoo prints on crisp white cotton button-downs. Vaccarello has a distinct point of view, and, until now, there hasn’t been much room in it for such decorative motifs. But now that he’s up and running at Versus Versace—he took his first solo bow there a week and a half ago—he’s clearly set his mind to expanding the world of AV. To that end, he made a big push into denim, the entry-level price-point item that can really goose a brand’s bottom line. High-waisted styles, one accessorized with a denim belt that grazed the rib cage, will be about as forgiving as his hip-high slits, but there were loose-fitting boyfriend jeans in the mix that will appeal to a broader swath of body types.
Vaccarello also put his first bags on the runway. The gold detailing on a pair of cross-body styles echoed the hardware that accented this collection’s strong military-influenced tailoring and its drapey jersey numbers. Binx Walton, fashion’s tomboy du jour, looked terrific in the one-shoulder, asymmetric-skirt bathing suit dress. Best in show, however, goes to Edie Campbell’s fitted officer’s jacket and sexy black jeans.
