Barbara Bui launched her brand 31 years ago, so the ’80s-inflected looks in her new collection are a coming home of sorts. Her constants, like rocker-chick leather jackets and skinny, stretch leather pants or menswear-inspired jackets mingle here with a smattering of sports influences, and rugby in particular.
“I wanted to go for a joyful, high-energy, nonchalant feeling,” the designer commented during a showroom visit. That meant transforming traditional rugby stripes to the extreme, in wide blocks of hot pink or bright green on round-shouldered tops, or streaking a bright accent along the seams of a more tailored Prince of Wales check jacket and scattering the letters of her name writ large across a cape. “I like things with a frank point of view,” the designer offered of her double-breasted, horizontally striped jackets.
Since last season, Bui has been working a new “dis/organized” mix, layering fluid, “girlier” separates together with her signature “bad boy” tailoring, for example pairing a kelly green or printed shirtdress with slim leather trousers and matching boots—a look that’s meant to be pared down to just the dress once the weather turns fine. A lumberjack shirt/striped dress hookup and slip-on boots with neon treads nodded in the direction of grunge. Elsewhere, trench with a tailored cotton front and a back in loosely cut technical fabric embodied the designer’s new dual attitude and looked chic. A black Le Smoking/tracksuit hybrid will likely prove a sweet spot for women who need to wear something fairly polished but want to look laidback about it.
“Clothes always reflect your state of mind,” offered the designer. “I was looking for a very simple way to wear something that might otherwise be too complicated.”
