For Spring, Carmen March issued a three-pronged personal manifesto. She’s a surfer, for one, but she’s also yearning for the kind of joie de vivre couture represented back in the ’80s. And, as is her custom, her Spanish roots are the baseline for her creative vision.
The result is a beguiling combination of wet suit textures and streamlined cuts, for example, on body-con black hourglass dresses with taffeta flamenco ruffles in fuchsia or marigold, two colors borrowed from the matador’s world. Of March’s many tributes to the torero’s uniform, the cropped, flared pants are the most immediately obvious—those were cute, even if the low-scooped gilet she showed them with was a bit too literal.
Elsewhere, a loose, tie-dye T-shirt draped over the hips showed versatility (solo by night, with leggings by day), and a pretty carnation print, a first for the young brand, illustrated how the designer is pushing into new territory.
Ultrafeminine fabrics, like taffeta that crinkles when you move, and the traditional madroños—a folkloric tulle with black velvet pom-poms that has been a favorite ever since Francisco Goya was painting royal portraits—amped up the party spirit. For day, there are tailored Prince of Wales check suits of lightweight wool, in tangerine. A cape in pink technical fabric, a Spring 2019 must-have at many a house, was one of the best this season.
Offered the designer: “I wanted to do a collection that makes me happy.” In these fraught times, who couldn’t use a little of that?
