Ports has, since its launch under Ian Hylton, vacillated between classic and conceptual. It tends to be on firmer footing with the former. Happily, for Spring, that s where it stayed. When Ports attempts unfussy, all-American (North American, Canadians like Hylton will clarify) sportswear and tailoring, the results have an easy chic. Strong tailoring, cropped trousers, and even a few supple pairs of suede shorts had just that. And while things got a bit trickier with a scaly, geometric print inspired by the sculptor Rainer Lagemann, it stayed just this side of wearable, on the whole. "I was feeling something with a masculine geometry for Spring," explained Hylton, who designs the line with Ports Fiona Cibani, "but it needed an element of lightness." The dégradé effect on the pattern gave it that.
