It’s hard to believe it has only been about nine months since Monse arrived on the scene. Last September, Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim’s debut connected instantly with women—editors, buyers, and, most important, shoppers—with a message that was direct, novel, and wearable. No easy feat! Their first collection took cues from men’s shirting, and the Oscar de la Renta alums found a dozen ways to put their own twist on it: They literally twisted shirts into off-the-shoulder tops and voluminous gowns, but they also reinterpreted classic men’s fabrics, like the striped silk lining of a jacket.
That familiar-but-better ethos has become Monse’s signature, one that earned the label a Swarovski Award for Womenswear nomination at Monday’s CFDA Awards. Monse has the celebrity seal of approval, too; Amal Clooney was recently photographed in a Monse dress from Fall ’16, and Selena Gomez just opened her Revival tour in a custom tearaway Monse gown. Both women will find something to like in the new Resort collection, which found Garcia and Kim working around another men’s staple: the trenchcoat. A waist-whittling dress in khaki gabardine captured the brand’s spirit. It had the off-the-shoulder silhouette, the day-to-night versatility, and the “slightly unhinged” attitude. What felt new was the humble fabric (which will translate to lower prices) and the thick, extralong belt cinched at the ribcage. “Resort is a market that’s meant for selling, but at the end of the day, there has to be newness,” Garcia said.
On that note, there was also more print and color than in previous seasons, seen best on a silk dress with alternating quadrants of houndstooth, stripes, and polka dots, inspired by a scarf Kim borrowed from a friend. It would look right at a corporate office or a ritzy event, and that fluidity is something the designers always consider. “People don’t like to wear traditional evening gowns anymore,” Garcia said. “Usually, the less dressy you look, the cooler you look.” One of Monse’s asymmetrical trench dresses would make a more exciting choice than, say, a beaded black-tie gown, but the really daring shopper will pick up the label’s new superwide-leg cargo pants, pair them with a slinky off-the-shoulder top, and call it a day.
