The Blumarine girl this season would fit right in wandering about a romantic garden, like Claude Monet’s at Giverny, with its water lilies, swans, hollyhocks and wisteria. “I love Impressionist paintings,” chirped Anna Molinari, when asked what inspired her Resort collection. “Roses and violets, embroidered on the finest lace so delicately they look as if they’re actually dewy.” Talk about the power of suggestion.
The design team tried to find a modern spin to translate the floral motifs so dear to Molinari. Which is where the British contemporary artist Rebecca Louise Law came in, providing a starting point with her fantastical installations made of massive quantities of every possible variety of cut blooms, a concept only deceitfully idyllic, since it inevitably leads to decay. It goes without saying that fading beauty is a concept totally anathema at Blumarine.
The Resort collection was an ode to the impalpable lightness of being, with filmy laces in the most ethereal hues, swirling flounces, and chiffon feathers. The Blumarine girl doesn’t seem to actually walk; she glides about, gently propelled by a breeze. Blush pink, peony, mimosa yellow, and lilac were the colors of this bouquet; organza roses blossomed on long tulle dresses, and chiffon feathers sprung from the décolletage of others. Chantilly lace frocks were so diaphanous, they looked as if barely there. As a nice counterpoint, navy blue chambray was paired with paillettes, as in an asymmetrical skirt worn with a snug sweater. It exuded a modern, more substantial feel.
