Sportmax’s set was decorated with crisp white sails. When the show started, pulley mechanisms activated, and they billowed as if moved by a stiff wind. The seaside was the theme, though it wasn’t a first-degree interpretation; there was nothing so obvious as marinière stripes, for instance. Instead Grazia Malagoli and her team started with the concept of sails: their triangular shapes and the ropes used to manipulate them. The approach made for some very appealing summer dresses—wrapped, asymmetrical, and breezy. A few were accented with leather collars, cuffs, or harnesses—Malagoli described them as leather bijoux. These worked best when they played a minor role. A shoulder-covering harness counteracted the inherent ease of the swingy trapeze dress it accessorized.
Absent marinière stripes, Malagoli and company turned to other codes of the sea. A leather peacoat with poncho-like proportions opened the show, and later there was a sun-bleached blue fisherman’s sweater and a loose interpretation of navy dress whites minus the insignia. Applying the seasonal theme to Sportmax’s sartorial DNA, shorts replaced pants as an accompaniment to jackets, and in some cases, jackets were subtly deconstructed to enhance their sense of movement. The tailoring could have been more distinctive. The catch of the day was a long, billowing white dress gathered at the waist with the triangular shape of a sail.