Since buying back the rights to his name and relaunching his label in 2013, Adam Lippes has specialized in understated luxury. Great cashmere sweaters, clean tailoring, a delicate slipdress for evening, lots of navy, black, and neutrals. It s a testament to his confidence and a healthy bottom line that he strayed from the script for Fall with a luscious floral photoprint.
Lippes credited the photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia, whose career he s followed since the early 90s, as the inspiration. "I worked with the florist Putnam and Putnam, and we used diCorcia s lighting for the photo, which we cut up to create the print." It appeared on a zip-front parka and a matching top and skirt, and, more sensationally, on a long, lean pantsuit with a sheer blouse in the same pattern.
A certain exuberance was detectable, too, in a pair of wild and woolly sweaters with piles of fringe at the shoulders and down the arms. Hand-knit in L.A., both the pullover and the cardigan required 10 different gauges of wool. They re bound to be popular; Lippes should let it all hang loose more often.
But the collection had no shortage of subtler charms: a navy leather hooded trench with a removable quilted lining, tweedy wool-cashmere pants with a killer flare at the hem, suit jackets featuring an elongated cut and a slightly nipped waist. Lippes has his suits made in New York by a men s tailor, and it shows.
