Shangri-La, the fictional utopia dreamed up by James Hilton in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon, was the place Vivienne Tam s world-traveler touched down for Fall. She called the collection "Shangri-La Remix," and it combined the Himalayan textiles and shaggy fur Tam s traveler picked up on the road with familiar pieces from back home. The mix, at times, was a little overdone, but most of the individual items were worth digging out.
Strongest was the outerwear. In roomy menswear silhouettes, pieces featured the groovy prints you d most likely find on a trip somewhere far away. A black and green wool jacquard wrap skirt with a diagonal motif had the same found-object quality; it had a simple sexiness that was obscured by the mandala appliqué on the coat worn with it. Tam is at her best when she keeps things simple, and she s still finding her footing when it comes to dependably solid separates. Fall was a step in the right direction.
