Resort marks Guillaume Henry s second season at Nina Ricci. It s very much a continuation of his first collection for Fall, which saw him loosening up the house s waist-conscious silhouette and otherwise injecting a fair bit of masculinity into the formula without relinquishing its essentially feminine point of view. Here, the attitude was incrementally easier, thanks to the addition of built-in wrinkles on both a sky blue silk twill dress and a metallic-bronze sequined sheath. The nylon-silk blend of another dress with a ruched and gathered bodice had an almost sporty feel. Henry balled it up in his hands, pointing out its virtual weightlessness. It would be an asset in a week that has seen Paris temps break 100 degrees more than once. Lightness defined the collection. A tailored blazer in a textured cloqué and an unstructured linen trench were unlined, and a tweed jacket was spliced with organza at the sides, a boudoir-ish touch that didn t detract from its everyday wearability. The designer s trousers, at least as they were pictured in the lookbook, had a little too much slouch to survive the mean streets of Paris or anywhere else.
As designer shifts go, this one isn t as radical as what s currently transpiring at Gucci, but what Henry is doing remains a departure for Ricci. Unchecked femininity was the brand s defining characteristic; reining that in as he has could serve to dull its unique aesthetic. Maybe that doesn t matter. He reports that the clothes more relaxed sensibility has attracted new attention from Asian and European buyers.
