The commercial imperatives of Resort can bring out the best in a designer. Australia s Kym Ellery is a case in point: This season, she demonstrated a talent for simplicity, emphasizing silhouettes that were strong without being overbearing. One of Ellery s new tunics, for instance, featured sculptural volume and seam detailing, but you had to attend to the garment a bit in order to understand what made it compelling. It didn t muscle for your attention. The same was true of the collection s striped linen jacket, understated despite its capelike flourish in back, and the monkish, wide-wale pajama pants, which looked especially fresh. This outing wasn t all about reduction, however: The designer made adroit use of embellishment, adding a spray of resin flowers to a few looks, and she followed up last season s excellent dark floral print with another in the same vein, a collage of patterns taken from her mother s wedding china. Still, the strongest pieces in this collection were the simplest—and a few of those items, like Ellery s bell-shaped skirt in cream-toned bonded crepe, had the force of real classics.
