Since taking home the top prize in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund last fall, Brock Collection has been in expansion mode. Resort included the brand’s first swimsuit, a ruffled one-piece you could wear under their best-selling Wright jeans, and they're working on a solo shoe collection, too. Instead of diving headfirst into a bunch of new categories, though, Kristopher Brock and Laura Vassar paused to reflect on their signatures—a tip they picked up from their industry mentors. Resort was an exercise in what Brock does best: vintage-y florals, corset dresses and tops, and ruffles, always with a bit of rawness.
Fans of the label’s pretty, flowery dresses won’t be disappointed by the variety here, ranging from soft chiffon dresses in lemon and baby blue to taffeta frocks with rows of small ruffles. A few dresses came in new extended lengths, like a floral shirtdress that hit right at the ankle or a flowing, strapless lilac gown. Mixed in with all those blooms were hardier fabrics like denim, poplin, and a new addition: burlap.
Brock and Vassar said the original plan was to use some kind of tweed, but when one of their mentors saw the burlap scraps draped over vintage furniture in their Newport Beach studio, it suddenly seemed like the perfect alternative. Burlap combines the look and feel of tweed with a subtler, rustic sensibility. They used it for wide-leg trousers, lean coats, and shoes, as well as a long-sleeved, corseted dress with a full, swishy skirt. In soft taupe, it looked like a subtle, practical alternative to all the fussy white dresses in your spring wardrobe.
