During his creative captaincy of Ports 1961, Karl Templer has developed an effective fashion formula. This latest voyage represented another variation of its interplay between ease and intricacy in order to stimulate desire.
The starting point was to present pieces that upon the visual horizon at first appear familiar: classic (albeit slightly volumized) silhouettes were delivered by shirt-dresses, knitwear, parkas, and so on. Upon further, slightly closer inspection a loose maritime theme suggested itself via the sailor-fronted denim, the navy blazers, and a Breton stripe cameo. The argyle crisscross and a classic-looking aran knit were also visible upon approach.
It was only when quite close to these Ports pieces that their intricacies became apparent; the argyle effect was achieved with satin ribbons, the aran sweater was longer at the sleeve and high on the waist, the tailoring was split and slightly deconstructed, and the striping was distorted. Parkas featured pearlescent fastenings and studs, shirt dresses were edged with scalloping. Delicately complicated arrangements of pleat, print, and lace further semaphored the gentle swirl of clothing currents Templer was steering his customer into.
“I want it to be a combination of things that are very familiar in your subconscious, put together in an easy way, but when you look at each of them they are very special,” said Templer. He added that he had worked this season especially to achieve an out-of-time effect, as if the pieces had been rediscovered after long storage rather than freshly purchased. “Everything comes from something that is semi-authentic, and then it is manipulated again,” he said. This Ports collection offered further safe harbor for those seeking pieces that are easy to wear but far trickier to place.
