Sophia Kokosalaki has been off the Paris fashion week radar for more than a year, but she was back on the scene today with not one, but two collections. Koré Sophia Kokosalaki is a new, lower-priced line featuring lace handmade by Sri Lankans that s part of an Asos.com program that helps designers develop alternative revenue streams.
The focus of Kokosalaki s revived eponymous collection is, as ever, dresses, and despite its short absence, it will look familiar to fans who have always appreciated her way with drape. One little number with a flourish at the neckline was made from a single enormous piece of Lurex-shot linen. The designer used the techy fabric, which was inspired by the work of the artist Henrique Oliveira, for sporty tops and shorts, and a blazer with a narrow, elongated silhouette. But it was the chiffon dresses in delicate pastels that showed off her know-how. Painstakingly designed with double construction—slim on the inside, fluid on the outside—they had a graceful look, not tight or constricting but still body-aware. Kokosalaki will bring the same dressmaker s skills to the capsule wedding gown line she s making for Net-a-Porter.
