Coincidentally, Paul Joe s Sophie Albou hit on the same hot spot for her Spring collection as Isabel Marant: Hawaii! "She s a cool, active, working woman, and she mixes her city looks with Hawaiian looks," Albou said before the show. "It s a sexy, interesting mix." In fact, it s not the newest idea out there, but it served Albou well tonight. Tailoring was the strong suit of her Fall collection, and her Spring lineup delivered more of a good thing: Take softly pleated, faded denim jeans with a boxy striped bomber, or a slightly elongated white jacket with striped, cuffed pants. Hawaii entered the picture via fluoro floral embroidery, which appeared on everything from a button-down that accompanied a blazer and oversize Bermudas to a pair of low-slung capris.
In this era of eye-searing digital prints, Albou s multicolor tile motif looked a little fuzzy. Better was an electric-bright orange and marigold floral, especially when it appeared up and down the front of a simple, sleeveless floor-length dress worn with flats. It would ve been nice to see more of the stretch jersey pieces. A racerback style in white with a black band at the bottom had a sporty kick.
