“On holiday” was the title Christopher Esber gave his Resort collection. It’s an apt name for a season inspired by the act of getting away, but the idea Esber honed in on more than sun-kissed escapism was disconnection. Unplugging your phone—and undoing the straps of your dress. Maybe missed connections is a better way to describe Esber’s best pieces, which focused on a variety of fastenings (laces, buttons, knots), allowing the wearer to get done up or undone at her pleasure.
In Australia, Esber’s native land, this kind of deshabille dressing has massive appeal, but thanks to peers like Simon Porte Jacquemus in Paris, it’s catching on internationally. Women around the globe will be happy to wear Esber’s opening passage of laced-up pieces with cerebral sex appeal and his fine rib-knit maxi dresses suspended on contrast buttons. Some of the suiting, with boxy shoulders and a mannish cut, lacked nuance—or maybe just seemed straightforward when compared with collaged tops in sheer fabric or a minimalist white dress worthy of a It-girl turn. The collection might have been all about putting your phone down, but that slinky frock will be turning up in many a selfie.
