Juan Carlos Obando explored two seemingly opposing themes for Resort: one, the practical (what pieces, he asked himself, would work best on the sales floor?); the other, fantasy. "I call it Falling Fairies in the Wicked World, " Obando said of his latest effort. "Or beautiful clothes gone bad."
On the practical tip, plenty of versatile sportswear could be found in this tightly edited offering. As for Obando s more dramatic ideas? They re all in the details. The technique-minded designer turned his talents to washing and dyeing processes, turning out a beautifully finished silk and wool coat that had been boiled to resemble rumpled cotton. In another instance, the same fabric, used for a cropped jacket, was treated to look like well-worn leather. The pale blush hue of a ball gown skirt bled into a rich flamingo pink at the hem, looking as if it had been accidentally dragged across a vat of dye. In a wicked world, Obando has a flair for producing clothes that are polished without being pretentious.
