What Bruno Basso can t do with digital print probably isn t worth doing. Neo-pop, the theme of Basso Brooke s Spring collection, gave him a tailor-made opportunity to duplicate on fabric (and micro sequin) the wildly lurid work of Jeff Koons. What s more, it neatly trailed back to Basso s psychedelic exploration of the natural world last season.
New for Spring was a stronger interest in black and white, apparently inspired by the photos of Herb Ritts and intended as a counterpoint to all the color. It looked dramatic in a coral print and in the streak of lightning that zapped one half of a bifurcated graphic (the other half was a riot of pink). It also made its presence felt in the beading that covered the body of a dress with printed fan pleats below the waist. That item was an excessive little thing, but it worked. Elsewhere, the never-enough notion was tested to its limits. The Lurex jacquard was a little de trop, especially when it had the bad luck to be paired with a metallic leather jacket in lurid yellow. The shapes, which Christopher Brooke had been streamlining so that the prints could shine, felt tricksier, more froufrou than usual. And a pouf dress printed with the names of fashion magazines was an oddly literal misstep. Better editing would have helped.
