In the past three or four seasons, Marios Schwab has brought a precocious level of rigorous, scientific thinking and research to his runway. This season, however, he moved away from one-note drama, like last Spring s anatomical dissection, to a collection that touched on many themes—the draped Greek chiton, the rope-bound "wrapping" work of Christo, a bit of the beige-suede eighties, and some sportswear.
In other words, it was confusing. What were drapey jersey gowns and all-in-ones doing in the same breath as structured, cutout suede dresses or, indeed, printed T-shirts? Backstage Schwab s explanation didn t fully articulate what was going on. He might ve thought that it s a good time to sell accessibly—along with those printed T-shirts, there were swimsuits and drapey beach cover-ups that could find their way into any boutique. That sort of brand extension is a first for Schwab, but with a top line of items that are going to be a tough sell (a jersey jumpsuit slashed open from the ankle all the way up the inside of the leg, for one), it s hard to know whether it s going to have anything more than a lukewarm appeal.
