In a season that can make as little sense as Resort—silk slips and short minks!—any context is welcome. By inviting buyers and editors into her sprawling, art-filled Soho loft for the presentation of her new collection for Hellessy, Sylvie Millstein reaped that very benefit, her own sun-drenched aerie (and adorable young son politely Razor-scootering around models and visitors) giving her clothing a hint of the life it might live off the rack. These little touches help when confronting what has become a markedly uneven, and unabashedly commercial, season. In that particularly commercial vein, Millstein largely succeeded, with a collection that hit some familiar—and notably well-selling—notes. Short-torsoed blouses with dramatically poufed poet sleeves (a style that is already a hit in stores and on the street) were inspired by “Argentina and gauchos,” said Millstein, and these were created in chambray, striped silk jacquard, and clean crepe double-face cotton. One style of blouse was intended to be worn open over the collarbone, baring that shoulder and buttoning down the sleeve, a tricky trend once originated by Martin Margiela, and seen more recently in iterations by Jacquemus and Monse. “We’re always about statement pieces,” said Millstein.
A pair of prints (one abstract, the other a micro floral) turned up in crepe separates, trapeze shaped sleeveless shirting, and short dresses. Trousers, typically a strength for Millstein, were less so when slit to the knee, as was often the case here. Sweeping prairie skirts were mostly, mercifully, in solid colors, though they still lacked the lightness required to balance out a silhouette that on the street typically skews dowdy. Leather pants were casually cuffed and carried the requisite amount of slouch to convey “cool,” though they, like nearly everything shown, boasted some inexplicable dangling ties from the edges of their pockets. A narrow leather blazer and elastic-banded black leather bustier worn over a blouse were misfires, but long silk trousers shown with a matching camisole and a contrasting structured cotton duster coat were in step with Millstein’s typical easy chic, and trompe l’oeil layered bustier over a white button-down felt like a clever solution to the average woman’s attempts at artful layering. It should come as little surprise that the best piece of the whole collection—a white generously sleeved shirtdress that could carry you seamlessly from seaside resort to city street—was also the simplest.
