Carven’s creative directors, Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud, introduced their latest Resort collection by explaining how they had imagined a group of ’90s-inspired girls taking a vacation at a family home in the Aeolian islands (north of Sicily), where they discover a treasure trove of clothes belonging to one of their grandmothers. Cue the granny grunge mash-ups: the low-slung ladylike skirt offset at the seams worn with an oversize patterned tank, the lace sheath turned inside out and over-dyed, and the striped silk blouse reworked as an asymmetrical top. The duo say this sort of storytelling is key to their creation process, as it allows them to situate the Carven gal and interpret her style in that moment. But turning a narrative construct into an original collection requires an additional chain of decisions, and this is where the duo assert their distinct edge. They overlaid more influences, so that the artist Yumi Okita’s embroidered moths morphed into a heavy metal–esque logo. Nods to the late-’60s Italian architecture firm Superstudio were apparent in both linear prints and a “3-D lace” dress featuring a grid of discs trembling like paillettes. An archive photo of floral embroidery was revived and applied to various pieces.
Carven devotees will find no shortage of refreshed standbys including flounced minis, shorts, and a particularly sassy black leather slip dress; novelty knits (i.e., lustrous silver with smocked detailing, or a “sunset” ombré effect); and a statement trench (this time, in a vinyl resembling wet clay). They may even detect the makings of a monogram on a jacquard used liberally, from a bandeau to a new bag style. While Martial and Caillaudaud seem eager to quirk up Carven, the pieces can be recombined and the looks toned down. Their story is easy to edit, in other words.
