Louise Trotter’s Pre-Fall collection for Joseph draws, mainly, from menswear and military wardrobes. She admits that these broad-sweeping inspirations can be a bit “banal,” and to enliven them, she pondered ways to make their tenets and codes a bit “off.”
It worked. Trotter is fastidious in her approach, whether it be in finding the exact right shade of suede for a “military caftan dress” (brown with a purplish afterglow), researching old scarves and thus injecting bursts of vibrancy on foulard tops, or placing the button of a sleeve on the front of a cuff as opposed to the side. Her focus is palpable, and it makes sense—Joseph’s in-house line, be it for women or men, revolves around uniforms. It is not meant to push any envelopes. But Trotter moves the needle within her own rubric, and the results are consistent and reliable.
Further evidence: pea or car coats in shaggy sheepskin, which sheared traditionalism into something strangely glam. There was also a beautiful “broken” pin-striped canvas skirt, and another in Prince of Wales check with tiered pleating and “even a bit of a sexy slit.”
This collection, at times, might have pulled from the kind of gallery chic tone of Phoebe Philo’s Céline, but Trotter’s concentration lent the lineup more of a type A particularity. Solid stuff. As a postscript: Joseph is introducing sunglasses with this collection, and they will be available in February.
