Lorenzo Serafini established himself as a dress man at his Philosophy debut for Fall ’15. His second runway collection was very much an evolution of his first: Victoriana by way of the ’70s, with a hint of the undone prairie girl. Erdem Moralioglu covered similar ground in London, but where his frocks had a special occasion sense of hauteur, Serafini’s dresses are designed to be lived in. Wisps of floral-printed chiffon with tiny buttons left undone over lacy bits of lingerie paraded down the runway on glossy black cowboy booties, beguiling in their offhandedness.
David Hamilton’s photography was on Serafini’s mood board, and like the famous lensman, this designer idealizes the young. A cropped crocheted sweater worn with hip-slung chambray trousers exposed acres of midriff; broderie anglaise bloomers did the same for upper thighs. Those shorts might get an airing at Fashion Week a year from now, but otherwise they’re a nonstarter. Elsewhere a cowhide leather coat seemed like a too-obvious nod to Serafini’s Western theme. As he settles into his new role, he’ll learn to avoid that kind of runway pratfall. Serafini’s promise lies in his easy way with a silk dress, from a pale mint drop-waist style to the lace inset slips and nightshirts with shorter-in-front and longer-in-back hems that ended the show. Extrapolate on numbers like that and keep at the crafty knits he paired with them, and he’ll be onto something.
