The quick take at Roksanda Ilincic was neo-seventies. That mostly came from the hippie-trippy silk head wraps trailing fabric down the back and the glossy, glam, silver runway. But it was the exact opposite of an illegal-substance-filled Me Decade nightclub that inspired this increasingly established eveningwear talent. "It was all about capturing the essence of a late summer day," Ilincic said after the show. "I wanted to bottle it up, that lightness and freshness, like a perfume."
You could see that most overtly in breezy dresses that were, in essence, beautifully executed caftans given an upgrade in silk gazar, satin, and organza. But even Ilincic s more complex and constructed dresses seemed to gracefully swirl around the body like wisps of smoke, shaped only by a length of ribbon. There was actually more of that seventies element in high-waisted trousers. Cut in jewel-toned or icy silver silk, they didn t qualify as daywear, but they did expand Ilincic s dress-centric worldview.
With frocks and otherwise, Ilincic aims to set herself apart by experimenting with fabrics. For instance, the tweedy-textured fluorescent pink material on the dress that opened the show was actually a loosely woven silk gazar. And that meshlike material that trimmed nearly everything, imparting a halo effect, was French lace. Not all the experiments were successful: The idea of Grecian gowns acting casual in a cotton-silk was solid, but the execution felt heavy. Alas, even a summer s day isn t completely perfect.
