Au Jour Le Jour’s Resort collection was a mash-up of late-’80s and early-’90s references; nothing original, really. Those years have already been drained by hordes of designers. It’s become a litany. The same old story told in slightly different variations. Note to up-and-comers: Get deeper, less stereotyped references. Better no reference at all than a lame, trite one.
Diego Marquez and Mirko Fontana, the duo behind the label, built Resort as a daywear wardrobe of separates, citing as a starting point “old television series, like Beverly Hills, 90210.” They proceeded to endow blazers with the requisite big power shoulders and trousers with the equally mandatory high waist. Like in a game of table tennis between elements taken from those decades, leggings printed in pink animalier motifs switched with puff-shoulder minidresses, while oversize, structured outerwear lived side by side with simple day dresses—too simple. Elsewhere, tartan, patent leather, and animalier prints gave a lively spin to coed blazers, dusters, and light sundresses.
References alone don’t make a collection worthy of editorial attention, nor commercial viability. Here, consistency was definitely lacking; Marquez and Fontana are talented, yet to be relevant they need to find a stylistic focus and a stronger, more personal point of view.
