March 5, 2021 |
A circular défilé served as Nina Ricci’s AW21 set. Finished with a double ring of vacant Klein blue folding chairs, this season the watched became the watchers. The audience-less catwalk film featured a minimal-techno score temperamentally warped, and rife with cinematic glitches, blending with sporadic windswept visual effects. It creates an intense narrative following soigné models as they rupture the 4th wall.
Proceedings kicked off with a chartreuse zipped patch-pocket blazer paired with matching straight-leg trousers. Following closely was a promenade of puffball miniskirts, iridescent drawstring cycling vests, billowing poncho blouses and parkas swathed in fur. Cool tones of olive, chartreuse, and peridot green create balance and an overarching sense of harmony while acute cobalt, burnt orange, peach, butter, pale rose, and iridescent purple elevate the collection from simple ’60s aesthetics to an invigorating statement of playful femininity.
What’s really special is how the chromatic uniforms are completed with a new iteration of the Nina Ricci cloche hat, returning this time as a pillbox stripped of its brim. Lisi Herrebrugh and Rushemy Botter, the brains behind the collection, took inspiration from the French term, l’air du temps, an expression of the zeitgeist (specifically the sixties) – the imaginary thread of progress that weaves the past and future together in an amplified present. Their silhouettes were sleek and sartorially satisfying, exploring the intersections of elegance and utility.
Elements of the Nina Ricci archive echo in each comfortable look. The design duo reappropriated volumes of hound’s tooth tweed, chevron and Prince of Wales wools from the menswear oeuvre, streamlining them for the women’s collection as garment-dyed nylons, scarf duffel coats, and buttoned ponchos. Lalique-inspired dove earrings, furry mules, necklaces with perfume bottle pendants, and a frosted falcon strung on satin ribbon adorned the looks. Worn with foulard skirts, ribbed knits or even sleeveless frocks, it ushered in a new kind of femininity. Tailored with a twist.
Photography courtesy of Nina Ricci.
