On Tuesday night, Rosie Assoulin revealed her third season (but first presentation) of her secondary line, By Any Other Name, à la a cocktail event at the upcoming American Bar, with models mingling throughout the room, almost incognito in the new designs. The idea was purposeful — Assoulin designed the looks (and line as a whole) as daily offerings for the modern woman (while simultaneously giving her freedom to implement more adventurous ideas into her mainline ready-to-wear). The event also marked Assoulin’s sole quote-unquote presentation during New York Fashion Week; mainline will be showing in Paris.
“A separation of heaven and earth,” the designer described. “For us, the collection is very special and unique, and then there’s the everyday.…That ‘I still don’t want to feel dead inside when getting dressed.’ I still want to be myself wherever I go but comfortable, appropriate but special, so that’s where this tension came from.”
Within Assoulin’s thirtysomething looks, “basics with a twist” came in many wonderful shapes and forms. There were cozy knits with sleeves that could be pushed to an off-the-shoulder silhouette, reversible raincoat-meets-winter coat, and plenty of really great day dresses in more “everyday fabrics,” including organic, cruelty-free and sustainable options (as in
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