For the past year or so, Christian Wijnants has been streamlining his process, looking for flow. It’s working well for him: The layered looks in his March runway presentation made that his strongest collection to date, and business has picked up enough that he can look toward the future with a certain measure of serenity. In an industry not particularly known for calm, he might even be the most serene designer in Paris this week.
For Resort, Wijnants continues his meanderings through an imaginary Persia, giving the concept a summery spin with silk floral prints that look as delicate as hand-painted porcelain. The designer noted that he’s been leafing through his Olivier Hartung book of street shots taken in Iran, turning again and again to its mix of architecture, public spaces, and humorous art—like quirky bird statues— for inspiration.
Pretty, airy floral jacquards are lean and easily layered, with some knits incorporating wool and some not, the better to serve the designer’s fans wherever they may be next winter. Handkerchief-hemmed dresses, skirts, and cropped pants—in either florals or a burnished orange and black plaid—deftly sidestep the folklore trap. Seamless tubular knits—a house perennial—range from muted apricot to watery blue. Wijnants’s denim pieces, such as a windbreaker style and wide cropped pants, are proving a popular draw for younger clients. “I try to sort of capture every style of woman,” the designer explains. “It has to be easy, but the L.A. customer is not anything like the German one or the Japanese one.” Between his clothes and his burgeoning accessories line—with Marion Vidal for jewelry, and more shoes in the pipeline—it looks like Wijnants has found his flow.
