This morning Magda Butrym marked her 10th anniversary in the business with her first-ever fashion show in Paris. The event might have been early by Sunday-morning standards, but her fans turned out in force, dressed to the nines.
Entitled The Studio, the spring collection nodded to the designer’s atelier in Warsaw as well as a painting by the contemporary artist Paulina Ołowska of one woman observing another with quiet intensity. That artistic gaze converged with fashion’s current preoccupation with states of half dress to produce a lineup of sculptural shapes, shortened proportions, and lingerie-inspired looks seasoned with draping or hand-crochet and grounded by sharply tailored leather coats and jackets.
“I feel like it’s a bit undone, but with the layers, it’s still very feminine,” the designer observed, noting that she’s stepping into her next decade with a clearer idea of what she wants to say. “As a woman designer, I feel I can bring a point of view to make [other women] feel pretty and confident,” she said. Her work seems to be gaining momentum: In the past month or so, Aryna Sabalenka celebrated her US Open win in a formfitting, draped midi with a wrapped shoulder detail and actor Tessa Thompson appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival in a black plissé halter top and black skirt with a rose detail.
The rose, of course, is Butrym’s signature, and here the designer offered it from head to toe on cloudlike hats, doily embellishments, and stylized sworls on voluminous skirts discreetly fitted with buttons to become “an accidental rose,” as the designer called it, when gathered. Ruching and smocking lent further texture to a series of dresses and skirts, while Slavic crafts cropped up in lace inserts, a tee, and a new crochet tote. In a season that has favored corsetry and a fascination with panniers, Butrym’s offerings were as plausible as any out there, from the precisely cut hourglass jacket that opened the show to a black peplum bustier and a white corset top. (Those tights, it should be noted, are simply a runway styling trick.)
Just before showtime, the designer said that, for her, the beauty of imperfection is that it “symbolizes the freedom not to be perfect.” That stance, and many of the pieces here, will likely connect with her fan base of 721,000 followers and counting.
