For Vionnet's S/S 17 collection, the starting point was the ocean. The opening look comprised of a white jacket with a dropped, tiered pelmet. Shades of plissé, in orange, shell pink, and blue were like sedimentary layers beneath a seabed. Crescent shaped dresses and capes used the same layering effect. Like different shades of crustaceans that had washed up on a shore, the curved lines evoked the undulating marks of an approaching tide. Knee length shorts added a tomboyish charm when worn with white chiffon and georgette pieces.
After the initial scene setting, a commercial section was inserted - full of dresses Vionnet is expected to offer. In the spirit of things being organic, languid and swaying, it felt we could have eased into this section more cohesively - or perhaps been placed as a later section. However, the plunge into the house's archive rendered some highly timeless pieces. A muted peach and a brown based grey saw us now in a more balletic world - knocking on the door of the house's early 20th century muse, Isadora Duncun.
Highlights within the show included the Maddé clutch, worn belted, and a quirky print of a bird's eye beach scene. The show notes were taking about an 'anti digital introspection.' The collection's bird's eye print idea set out to offer a 'lucid dream state of summer escape.' Slightly surrealist, yet grounded in nature, there were some simple yet imaginative proposals for a summer wardrobe.