Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos transported their guests to a glamorous far-off Polynesian fantasy for spring, staging their show in the tropical environs of Trader Vic’s tiki bar under the Hilton hotel on Park Lane, a descendant of the original Trader Vic’s, founded in the Thirties in California.
The setting imbued the collection with a tropical vibe, with a palette of joyously lurid tropical hues, from sunset peach to rainforest green, violet, fuchsia, royal and sky blues, acid yellow, seafoam, vermilion and marigold yellow — all shot through with flashes of gold and silver.
But the collection’s inspiration came via a less exotic source: the works of French Art Nouveau glass artist Émile Gallé, who made use of a miscellany of botanical forms in his sometimes iridescent or frosted floral patterns. The duo translated this source into a collection that was as sophisticated as it was fun.
There were hints of colonial splendor in touches like the frogging closure that fastened a sharply tailored striped pantsuit, the tassels that swung from rope belts around floral gowns or from pearl-encrusted bags, and in the twisting fez hats done in shimmering fabrics. There were nods to the silhouettes of the Thirties and Seventies, and
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