Natasa Cagalj spends her summers in Croatia with her children and designs out of the Ports 1961 womenswear studio in London. “We wanted to keep the feeling of holidays going,” she said, smiling, as her models were about to walk the runway in Milan. Some of them were carrying padded stripy cushions for the beach—in fact, as Cagalj noted of an awning-striped lounger one girl had tucked under her arm, “That one is mine!”
A relaxed fashion lifestyle brand took shape here. The bright greens, blues, and dusty pinks of the beach-inspired stripes lent themselves well to a series of oversize shirts and pajama-like pants worn by girls who were toting matching drawstring bags. Later, Cagalj switched to bright floral seed–packet prints for more varieties of A-line shapes, tunics, and wide pants with snaps running up the outside leg. With some good-looking ribbed cotton knitwear folded into the mix, the lineup struck a balance between easy weekend-wear and crisp workwear. Seekers of this quietly growing cult for grown-ups have a note in their Paris diaries to visit the Ports 1961 shop in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where the designer’s focus on a serenely thought-out wardrobe is laid out in full—tailoring and well-cut pants are her forte.
