Flirty, pretty things have made Alice McCall a mainstay of the Australian fashion scene for the past 15 years. Season after season, McCall delivers pieces that are just trendy enough, with a girlishness and glitz that makes each item primed for a selfie. For Resort 2020, the designer honed in on occassionwear, amplifying the pouf sleeves, micro ruffles, and shimmering Lurex fabrications that have been her signatures of late. With deep side parts, sparkling barrettes, and thick Edie Sedgwick eyeliner, McCall’s models looked like haunting dream girls from the late ’60s and early ’70s, part Brigitte Bardot in carefree headscarves, part Jane Birkin in itty bitty minidresses.
It’s a vision that reads quite young—see the crystal heart embellishments and point d’esprit sheer dresses for proof—and quite sweet. And yet, judging by the many McCall numbers in the crowd at her show, women of all ages and sizes can find something to love in her collections. That diversity and broad appeal is what keeps her business afloat, although sometimes it can feel like too broad a vision on the runway, and perhaps a little overly referential to collections that have come before.