Wherever the Jenny Packham woman is headed, she wants to shine bright. The designer’s glittery universe is so successful that she recently opened an airy, high-ceilinged, parquet-floored salon right across from the American and British Embassies in Paris, the better to fulfill demand for her flourishing bridal line.
For Resort, the racks were lined with precisely the kind of gossamer, sequined confections that make Packham such a favorite on the awards and social circuits for high-profile clients ranging from Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Angelina Jolie, and Rachel Weisz right on up to the Duchess of Cambridge.
On a recent trip to Madrid, a visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum sparked a fascination for the Impressionist artist Joaquín Sorolla, whose paintings of Mediterranean beach scenes sought to reproduce sunlight as it really is. Packham gamely transposed what she saw into fabric development, like pleated, gilded lamé, and finishings: key pieces included a sequined gold column dress with a matching cropped jacket inspired by the classic tweed variety; a blush-color ’20s-inflected dress with a diaphanous cape; a dégradé of green sequins on a short, flared evening number; or a tiered, gold-hued bonbon wrapper of a party dress.
Elsewhere, the designer sprinkled tiny, richly colored crystals over flecked tweed trimmed with daisies. A few looks—namely a one-shouldered number with a neckline veiled in plumetis and cape, or a black column with a white ruff—picked up on current couture codes. A flamenco influence made itself felt in a handful of flounced dresses in saturated primary colors, also with daisy trim.
