When designers go the oceanic route it usually involves stripes. Stripes and subtitles like "naughty nautical". Which is why it was refreshing to see Alice McCall's collection dig a little deeper - right down to the bottom of the beautiful briny sea, actually. Referencing everything from German botanism and French jewellery, the collection featured all of the McCall signatures - embellishment, embroidery and the-sweetest-thing silhouettes - tinged with the ice-cool hand of Neptune. The show was dominated by shades of white - ivory, champagne and bone were the major players - punctuated by brief interludes of deep-sea hues, like French navy or pink coral. It was a refreshing hit of chill for summer, a cold ocean breeze, and offset McCall's usual sweetness and femininity perfectly.
Where McCall succeeded in this collection was in the rendering of the theme. The playsuit embellished with miniature pearls in a lovely off-white was a standout piece, making waves because of its simplicity, and not despite of it. We also loved the pyjama sets - printed two-pieces worn open and carefree - perfect to fling over a swimsuit when you're still a bit salty and wet. The prints, as usual, were exquisitely composed, mirror-image digital manipulations of sea urchins, coral and polyps. Cast in a delicious array of blue - periwinkle, forget-me-not, royal and sea all made their centre-stage appearances - and set again a background of those plain neutrals the effect was almost ethereal.
What we liked about Alice McCall's show last year was its overwhelming sense of fun. It's what girls really just want, right? This collection was a little different. Not so much serious per se (we don't think that this is possible for the McCall girl, with her blue-tipped eyelashes and wet hair, she was born a good-time girl and she's going to stay that way) but perhaps a little more refined. These were clothes that you might wear to a fancy dinner at Icebergs, sipping cocktails and talking business in the early hours of the evening. Granted, they would look equally as perfect in those casual, everyday situations that seem to stick in our mind (brunch, brunch, brunch!), but there was a distinct air of sophistication and elegance to this season in those softly-flounced folds and those perfect a-line cuts. It was beautiful and it was elegant and it was almost untouchable - just like the sea.
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This is our first review of Day 3! See our other reviews for Camilla and Marc, Christopher Esber, Romance Was Born, Karla Spetic, Ellery, Manning Cartell and Vanishing Elephant.
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