The wood bricks that paved the floor of Nehera’s show venue, a 19th-century industrial building, felt like a fitting metaphor for Samuel Drira’s latest collection; something ordinary can suddenly become original based on our baseline perception. Consider the backs of tops that angled upward as though they’d been stretched out on a frame; the designer explained that despite the seemingly complex shape, he simply reworked an otherwise square pattern to create unexpected, “envelope” volume. While he made the execution sound easier than it probably was, his evolved designs invariably emerge from recognizable elements—whether a gray pinstripe on soft camel suiting, pastel pink and blue down outerwear with ripple-effect quilting, or an extra-large apron over-layer. With the ’30s-era floral dresses as a vintage counterpoint to the crinkled lamé layers and a crackled aluminum-esque jacket, Drira seemed to be working through a trousseau of past and future, with timeless men’s tailoring as his midpoint.
This much is certain: He is not intimidated by asymmetries and by showing them to varying degrees of drama, he encourages us to think of them as natural points of differentiation, not abnormalities. As he put it, “It’s always about moving a classic into an abstract without losing the wearability.” The wearability aspect, however, is relative to the wearer’s mind-set, and Nehera as a brand is somewhat self-selecting; those who identify with it already lean toward contemplative style. But to Drira’s credit, this was as all-inclusive a range of separates as he’s conceived so far, hopefully enticing women who can’t imagine themselves doing the full boxy blazer–to–flat boot statement. Few would dispute the fantastic reconstructed ease of the slouchy sheepskin jacket, for instance. Yet this collection’s wood brick was the mature model in the bonded rubber and wool trench; she commanded all others with her stealthy twist on such a traditional look.
