Carmen March would like to set the record straight: That cropped-jacket-slim-pant-matador silhouette that seems to be cropping up all over Paris this season is, de facto, Spanish. She’s got that look covered, and she also has a few ideas about the ’80s that set her apart from the general current of nostalgia about the era. No doubt because she has early memories of watching the transformative potential of fashion.
“Imagine coming out of a dictatorship. What I remember is the fun, the explosion of freedom,” the designer said, referring to time after the end of the Franco years. “There was La Movida, people had the feeling that anything was possible—it was all about the big hair, the color, the music scene, the clubs, you could see it everywhere.”
For Fall, the Madrid-based designer channeled that energy into a collection that starred her now-signature bustier (either integrated or stand-alone) in a series of styles that made it look completely viable again, surprising as that may seem—and in a sophisticated vein. The best of these was done in fabric lifted from the menswear lexicon, worked as a black-and-white checked hourglass dress and matching, ample coat, or a jumpsuit in gray plaid. The overall impression was fearless. Equally strong were the night-on-the-town pop-over dresses in velvet, black fringe, or ultrasoft white leather.
March is keen on fabric development, and this season she spent months focusing on texture and depth before turning her attention to silhouette. The fabrics included a light silk viscose jacquard with graphic red motifs on black ground—“Go out to dinner in Madrid, and you’ll see women in black and red,” the designer noted. In response to clients’ requests, she also made her first foray into red carpet wear with a single, strapless black velvet gown—an homage to Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent.
