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A Folksier Flair at Roland Mouret

While the female form is still his basic building block, the designer provided a more relaxed kind of reassurance: it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
By
  • Tim Blanks
BoF PROFESSIONAL

LONDON, United Kingdom —Last season's soundtrack was multiple versions of "The Look of Love." This time, Roland Mouret opted for "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," sung by everyone from Petula Clark to Jimmy Somerville. One line of lyric runs "You're just too good to be true", but that wasn't where Mouret's head was at for this collection. He claimed he wanted to "celebrate imperfection". Once, his design signature was an angular, urban precision. His new designs had a looser, folksier flair. His references were Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo, art world icons of strength, independence and idiosyncratic style. The monkish monochrome starkness of O'Keeffe's dress, the shawl fringing, the woven belts, the tapestry weaves and thorny rose prints that echoed Kahlo's co-opting of Mexican peasant garb contributed to a rawer take on womenswear from Mouret.

He attributed it to the impact that the Women’s Marches around the world had on him. “How can I address the outside of you if I don’t understand the inside?” Mouret asked himself of his clientele. "Addressing the outside" was what got him his career in the first place, with all that signature second-skin seaming. Reassuring, yes, but “too good to be true”. If the female form is still his basic building block, Mouret’s new collection provided a more relaxed kind of reassurance: it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

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