Designer Hillary Taymour started her Pre-Fall 2019 collection asking some profound questions: What mistakes would you make again? How do you stay true in a chaotic world? How can silence speak? She came up with these queries while thinking about the fact that in a social media–obsessed culture, we may slowly be losing our ability to appreciate person-to-person interaction. To pose another existential question: Is human contact on an emotional level becoming obsolete? Taymour is passionate about reaching people through her clothes. She wants to attract her customers with cool, sometimes experimental garments, but also via the ethos of her brand as a whole. Collina Strada is about youthfulness, humor, and the ability to look inward, even when we’re wearing something loud on the outside. Her Pre-Fall lineup was successful because it showcased her messaging in a straightforward way, i.e. through brightly colored tie-dye T-shirts with the aforementioned quandaries scrawled across their fronts.
Elsewhere Taymour showed pieces that were pared-back for her, like a black slip dress with thin tassels dangling from the straps. More vibrant were the striking deadstock fabric printed with a rainbow sheen on top of florals she used for a sheer lace dress and top, and a specially tie-dyed velvet. An uncharacteristically preppy checked jacket stood out, as did a simple pink frock with a slightly billowed skirt.
