Hurrah! After a few seasons showing in Paris in which Kym Ellery s collections have seemed overburdened by their ambitions, the Sydney-based designer got down to business today. This was a pared-down and relatively straightforward outing full of terrific clothes. Ellery had two main emphases: creating a lean, attenuated silhouette, and elaborating it with rich textures. The opening look established the theme: a pair of extra-long tweed trousers topped with a mesh undershirt and matching tweed singlet. The singlet had a buoyant flare, but this was a more measured take on the sculptural volumes Ellery has explored in the past. The tailoring was a highlight—lots of great pants—and the shirting, too, done in heavy-duty cottons with a touch of sheen. Ellery also scored with her long, almost monastic tank dresses, which kicked out under the hip. Those looks were exceedingly matter-of-fact, but they really worked.
When Ellery strayed into more experimental territory, the results were more mixed. A sheer fringed fabric was a bit of a head-scratcher, though it could have editorial appeal, and the voluminous strapless dresses in wool suiting fabric didn t really need the blazer pocket at the back to get the point across—that piece had a rigorous elegance, minus the decon wink.
One of the interesting things about Ellery is that she s a designer trying to rethink formal clothes—and nowhere was that more obvious than in her trouser-based looks for evening, where the pants were paired with cloudy tops of sculpted organza. The shapes could have been a touch more restrained, but the concept was solid. A bit more discipline, and a little more straightforwardness in the styling, and this show could have been a home run.
