Living in the Hamptons last year, designer and avid art-lover Tanya Taylor was inspired by the emerging art scene that has developed in the east end of Long Island. A trip to Elaine de Kooning’s former Springs home also influenced what would become her pretty, playful pre-fall collection filled with hues reminiscent of the end of summer and touches of artsy new ideas.
The look: A mix of light, floaty styles with sportier compact knits (as well as new swimwear staples), as well as chic, solid cocktail and event dresses.
Quote of note: “We started by taking a trip to the Victor D’Amico Art Institute near Montauk, he used to be the educational director at the MoMA. It’s really interesting. They [D’Amico and his wife] have an Art Barge that you can take classes on, and a house that they built of found objects and things they were inspired by in the Hamptons. I was living out there last year and was looking for something about the history of it, and felt inspired by the art scene that’s developed. I took a class there, and our design team came out — we fell in love with his sense of mixing things.”
Key pieces: Color-blocked party dresses with feather embellishments (feathers also adorned easy, fun tops, like a chartreuse strapless top styled with crinkled brown trousers); mixed media sporty-meets-feminine looks, as in a babydoll dress with jersey top and poplin skirt or floral intarsia biker short and cutout T-shirt dresses that nicely contrasted bouncy poplin skirt sets and dresses; new maillots with asymmetrical ruffles; painterly warped watercolor and floral printed numbers with “spontaneous” splattered spray paint effects; a selection of slimmer, long elegant frocks.
The takeaway: Taylor’s mix of cinnamon tones with optimistic brights uplifted the selection, which nicely melded artful, sportif and voluminous moments with easy fashions that felt very of the now.