Tatiana Maslany, the Canadian star of Orphan Black, wore an ivory Le Smoking by Bouchra Jarrar to the Emmys last month. Admittedly, there wasn’t much in the way of competition, but she was easily among the chicest women at the ceremony, elegant where other actresses looked try-hard or just plain wrong. It’s nice to see Hollywood waking up to Jarrar’s red carpet potential; she’s putting a new emphasis on dress-up clothes at her couture shows. For ready-to-wear, presented in her premier arrondissement atelier, which is becoming increasingly crowded as the seasons progress, she’s focused on a more everyday kind of elegance.
In a first for Jarrar, there was a tailored pantsuit in a dark-rinse denim, the softness of which defied expectations. Softness was truly the order of the day, be it a caramel-color shrunken leather blouson and matching skirt with an arching slit or a navy viscose trench with a high storm flap and epaulets. But Jarrar was equally concerned with the collection’s graphic punch, juxtaposing the high-contrast animal print of an elongated gilet with the black lace of a long-sleeved top, or piecing together a sexy asymmetrical tank top with patent shoulder straps from diagonal slices of tech fabric and leather. We can’t help circling back around to her smoking jackets though. Does anyone anywhere cut one better?
