Tough and tender, silk and steel: This Ports 1961 resort collection saw Karl Templer apply his mixologist’s eye to concoct a rigorously contrasting cocktail of wearable ingredients. The fundamental dichotomy was feminine-masculine, and these elements were shaped to complement rather than oppose—so a blush cropped biker, or a handsomely gathered cotton dress cut to substitute the shoulder for décolletage, or men’s shirting cut and remixed with lace insertions.
Successfully continued motifs included ribbon-laced rib knits, topcoats with buttoned paneling, that emphasis on shirting, and an inclination to create fresh layers of façade over the established. New directions included a souvenir jacket reworked as a minidress and a punchy duo of georgette floral mid-lengthers punctuated by grommeted belts at the end.
Templer said: “This duality, and a little bit of a mod influence, is there. But it’s still a wardrobe, and it’s very much not a concept collection. I wanted to take the familiar and make it ever-so-slightly unfamiliar but in a light way.” Eminently throw-on-able but also interestingly twisted, this particular Ports cocktail slipped down just fine.
