Peter Lindbergh photos of Linda Evangelista on the beach in Normandy were the prompt for this Isabel Marant pre-spring collection. “I was feeling for something quite simple and easy, with a very ’90s vibe,” Marant said over a Zoom. Model Birgit Kos, who stars in the look book, even got a Linda wig for the occasion.
It’s a more minimal offering than the spring outing she showed in Paris recently, not devoid of colors, but not doused with Miami Beach-pastels the way her runway was either. Here and there, a girlish frill in the form of a printed pouf-shoulder or a ruched jersey bodice punctuates the lineup. But the fashion news is the boyish attitude of items like a pinstripe shorts suit, a parachute nylon all-in-one, and a narrow-cut overcoat.
Streamlined and efficient, they’re the sort of pieces you might see on the designer herself. For Marant and her Gen X contemporaries, the ’90s were a definitive time. “It’s about having the right wardrobe,” she said. That narrow-shouldered coat definitely qualifies.
