Ann Demeulemeester, to the relief of her many followers, is by nature a trend refusenik. She carved out her aesthetic—that slouchy, layered, definitively Belgian thing—long ago, but still, there s always something subtly permeable about her parameters. This Spring, there s a floppy flowiness to her masculine-feminine design that picks up a sense of the thirties, and plays on bold stripes, fringing, feathers, and languid washed satin.
All this, of course, happens within the established template of Demeulemeester s tailoring—monochromatic soft linen coat jackets, elongated vests, and pants. This season, she s worked up a doable translation of a jodhpur and also turned her attention to the new wide-legged satin pajama trouser of the Marlene-gone-modern kind. Something of the glam, playful, and luxurious has even filtered in along the way. There are cock-feather borders on vests, a hint of showgirl razzmatazz in the fringed shorts and flapper shifts, and, if you look very closely among the multiple chains strung around the models necks, a few transparent lockets filled with crystalline grains that are actually real diamonds—evidence of Demeulemeester s first foray into fine jewelry.
