Look 25, a column dress in inky blue and persimmon enhanced by ample folds of neoprene, was missing from today’s walk-through because Caitriona Balfe had worn it to the Golden Globes. Indeed, with their “prêt-à-couture” positioning, Delpozo collections invariably feel elevated beyond the every day, especially given creative director Josep Font’s exacting approach to design. Yet the Spanish label’s second Pre-Fall offering yielded sculpted volumes, surface treatments, and ladylike looks that were dialed down just enough to enter into consistent wardrobe rotation. In Paris to present the lineup at the Delpozo showroom, Font name-checked Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and the flower-theme decoupage of Mary Delany, an 18th-century British artist affiliated with the Blue Stockings Society, as motivating his curvilinear shapes, jolts of cerulean and fuchsia, and dimensional embroideries.
Font explored the fusion of form and flora with sleeves that pleated inward from a single piece of fabric (apparently requiring two days of fittings) or as the abstracted petals of fabric placed on a tailored jacket and A-line dress, with some encrustations recalling Matisse’s sinuous collages. Intricate crochet knotting, embroidered wool flowers, and spiny acetate blossoms that embellished knitwear, tea dresses, and accessories were restrained relative to Font’s runway lineup. But even at his most basic, the flair was still there—see the black top boasting an oversize bisected bow, the color-blocked embroideries, and the collection’s standout pant with its exaggerated cuffs. This year marks the fifth anniversary of Delpozo’s relaunch, and Font says he seeks to challenge himself each season. If some women embrace his more challenging constructions, others will gravitate toward the crisp poplin shirts or the intarsia turtlenecks, knowing that these essentials are hardly ordinary.
