Roksanda Resort 2016
Roksanda Ilinic’s Resort 2016 collection takes inspiration from the Cubists; bold lines, broken lines, and geometric shapes find expression in each outfit – in one way or another, and the line as a whole is characterised by a sense of considered abstraction.
While it’s blocky patterns and oversized shapes (a giant circle across the bodice for example) that catch our attention first, from each piece leaps a strong sense of shape in the complete sense of the word. As well as the surface, it is the structure of these skirts and coats, trousers and dresses that shout Cubism.
Here, tops are rectangular and skirts look like triangles because fabric has been cut with absolute precision. Even the crisp curve of a circle gets a place. What’s most impressive about this very definite structure though, is the collection remains a flattering one. Roksanda obviously knows proportion – and the female body.
Of course, there is another star in this collection: colour. Tangerine and turquoise blue, pale pink against bright red, white on black – a touch of fuchsia. It is an inarguably playful palette, but it also retains sophistication. There are the darker pieces, rather wintry for a resort collection but by no means unwelcome, that create balance for the whole, and where there is colour it is considered at the same time it is celebrated. There is also texture at work, perhaps another nod to cubism, and fantastic use of contrast that gives the line its edge.
Between its bold sense of shape and playful use of colour, flattering structure and variety of materials, Roksanda’s Resort Collection 2016 is both art and fashion. Wear, or hang, it’s one that deserves to be admired.
