The ’70s have been a continual touchstone for Zac Posen’s Brooks Brothers collections from the beginning. For Resort—technically the first delivery of the brand’s Spring 2017 collection—Posen honed in on Melvin Sokolsky’s Polaroids from that era. Sokolsky’s evocative street scenes of real people in New York City are gritty, raw, and sometimes even unpretty; Posen’s collection is, well, none of those things. Classicism is the word at Brooks Brothers. This season he continued to riff on the three S’s—suiting, shift dresses, and shirting—adding in notes of trendiness in the form of muted ’70s colors and wide floral prints courtesy of repeat collaborator Pierre Marie. When asked who his muse might be he demurred, diplomatically saying that Brooks Brothers, with more than 250 stores internationally, is for all women, but when pressed he admitted that the styling of the lookbook had a certain Catherine Deneuve quality. In python-covered block heels, hair barrel-curled into pristine ringlets, model Elisabeth Erm is a ringer for the ingenue in her heyday. To the Brooks Brothers shopper of a certain age, this will be a delight.
But what about the younger customer Brooks Brothers is courting? She will like the ditzy floral dresses with a Laura Ashley spirit, tie-neck blouses, and maybe even the last look, a plissé minidress with wide, bell sleeves. In the lookbook it's shown in cerulean, but there’s also a black option that evokes the vixen charm of the vintage dress from Mad Men’s “Zou Bisou Bisou” scene, worn by Don Draper’s much younger wife in an effort to sex-up their marriage. Much like Mrs. Draper, Posen is a young gun, brimming with zeal and talent, at an old brand—America’s oldest retailer, in fact—looking to add some pep to its shelves. Through this lens, Resort felt a bit like a sidestep. Posen’s first collections managed to hit all of Brooks Brothers’ demographics while still exuding the joy that you associate with the designer; here, though there are great pieces in the collection, that boundless optimism was a bit muted by practicality.
