Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s shows have become a highlight of New York Fashion Week, both for its diverse casts (many of the models are Zadeh’s real-life friends, among them Susan Cianciolo and Hailey Benton Gates) and her idiosyncratic mash-ups. A single look on the Fall 2019 runway included a blue leopard coat on top of a crinkly skirt over jogger sweatpants; another teamed a fringed sweatshirt with a plaid pencil skirt, a leopard belt, and zebra-striped boots. The reason it all works—at least, if that’s the look you’re going for—is because the pieces themselves are so simple. The silhouettes are almost rudimentary (a straight-fitting, almost matronly skirt; a sheath dress; a three-button jacket, et cetera) to leave room for endless mixing and matching. Look no further than Zadeh’s own Instagram for proof that those simple pieces are the building blocks of eclectic style: She just wore her go-to pleated camel midiskirt with a matching bra top in the South of France, jazzed up with lots of jewelry and an orange bag. There wasn’t anything complicated or even groundbreaking about the look, yet to the 6,000 people who liked the photo, it struck a chord. (In the selfie era, after all, nothing is more aspirational than true personal style.)
Zadeh’s Resort collections tend to be a lot more straightforward than her ready-to-wear shows and are thus a reminder of those building blocks. This season, she took the opportunity to bring a few back from the recent past: The aforementioned pleated skirt was reissued here in lime green; a square-neck, puffed-sleeve cotton dress from Spring 2018 returned in solid white and black; and a painterly island motif in shades of yellow and cobalt was reprinted from Spring 2017. It captured the sultry, vaguely Mediterranean mood Zadeh was going for—Resort traditionally being a season for “takeaway” vacation clothes—but there’s always been a sense of warmth and earthiness to her line. On that note, her team reported that a strappy, completely-backless tank was one of the best sellers at Paris market—behold, the ultimate vacation top!—but she made a strong case for matching sets you can wear in the city, too. There were a few neon slip dresses with tie-front blouses layered on top; a checkered pant was shown with a matching tailored vest; and Zadeh included a version of the look she’s been sporting: a scalloped bra and midiskirt, both in taupe linen. Styled with a plaid bomber jacket, the full look felt like something a New York girl might like to wear right now.
