Lisa Perry begins the design process each season with a piece of art. For Resort, it was a Tom Wesselmann still life. She drew her palette from the pop artist s work—a fresh mix of primary colors paired with blush pink, rusty orange, and tan. Perry started by revisiting her hits: the A-line circle shift, the fit-and-flare dress, and the collarless overcoat. But what really drove this collection was her effort to appeal to a younger customer. "Girls in their twenties and thirties have been telling us they want to wear Lisa Perry, but they want to wear it in a different way," she said. A popover top and matching bubble skirt in a graphic seersucker looked fun enough to prove her point, as did an above-the-knee khaki trench with bright yellow piping and chunky Lucite buttons. The lineup was a welcome move forward for the designer; it proved that her retro-modern aesthetic can be just plain modern, too.
