“It’s not so much a ‘travel’ collection,” pondered Natasa Cagalj, looking for a phrase to sum up her Resort collection. “It’s not about going to one particular destination . . . . It’s fashion without borders!” She showed what she meant: a reinterpreted Fair Isle sweater with tufted embroidery reminiscent of South American textile traditions; preppy Madras checked shirts and matching trousers; coats and suits with an English tweedy look about them. On the feet: a rather genius concoction of Cuban-heeled Western shoe-boot, loafer fringe, and wattled café-chair style woven leather.
What Cagalj does for Ports 1961 womenswear has settled somewhere on the spectrum between the crisp and the crafty. The virtue of her clothes lies in her choice of innovative Italian fabrics which have structure without weight and are crumple-proof—providing the sort of thing that can be pulled out of a suitcase and not cause any extra trouble to a professional business traveler. Besides, Cagalj’s designs have a happy quirkiness which is a welcome relief from the minimal: Who doesn’t need something to cheer her up as she struggles through the vicissitudes of modern travel?
