Yigal Azrouël skipped a formal runway show, opting for intimate showroom appointments with editors instead, and it was all the better for getting personal with his latest collection, which begged to be touched and seen up close. “It was about creating more texture, which is what I’m known for best,” Azrouël said. “And thinking about how we can empower the woman with clothes — to really give her the power and the confidence that she deserves.”
Fall provides an opportunity for Azrouël to stretch his outerwear muscles, one of the label’s strengths. He extended far beyond his signature leather motorcycle jackets — although those were here, too, one an updated version tricked out with pink-and-white floral-lace embroidery — to provide his girl with ultraluxe statement coats. Two examples: A black and beige mink cape was pieced together by hand in a striped geometric pattern — i.e., not your grandmother’s mink — and another 3-D quilted leather coat featured a detachable brown mink hem and collar. On the sportier side, he offered a camouflage jacquard parka with a leather and mink collar.
It wasn’t just the outerwear that felt particularly lush this season. Azrouël rounded out his lineup with languid, animal-print velvet trousers;
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