This was Thomas Tait s first shot at a pre-collection, and he really didn t want to take it. "I just didn t believe in the idea," he admitted. But something odd happened once he started designing. As he pulled out old sketches, he realized he was revisiting ideas that he d originally left unfinished or half-baked. So the collection evolved into a kind of seedbed for the future, starting with his upcoming Fall presentation.
At least that s how Tait saw it. What seemed more immediately obvious was the designer s original, tentative frame of mind, manifest in a bulky shapelessness that felt like it was waiting for definition. Maybe that will come with the Fall collection. But the aerodynamism that has characterized Tait s work in the past was boxed off, literally in the case of the big pleats that created a half skirt/half pant hybrid. What worked best were Tait s new mutations of fan faves, the oversize biker (unstiffened a little, with a new collar) and the white shirt (deeper collar, shaped sleeve).
