Rarely is the epithet “quiet luxury” more fitting for a designer than it is for Ryota Iwai with his collections for Auralee. This season, his observant eye trailed people in their down time in a city park, a multiplicity of strangers relaxing in the greenery. “This public space can bring together so many different kinds of stories, different kinds of individuals coexisting in the same space,” Iwai explained through an interpreter. “You might have someone on their lunchbreak from work, or you have somebody who’s going for a jog, somebody who’s going to go just to read a book for an afternoon, it’s how this public space draws together different people trying to have some peace of mind.”
To wit, the register was more casual this season as he put his luxurious spin on understated preppy looks and vintage silhouettes, all with his signature focus on super-soft high-end fabrics, developed in-house.
Super-soft chino pants, perfectly cut high on the waist and slightly rounded on the hips, and a wealth of trench and rain coats were staples for his city dwellers. They were also a fitting solution for the rain that threatened in Paris; at his Left Bank venue, the windows thrown wide open to the garden to enhance his theme, the wind rustled appropriately through the trees.
Leather and suede bomber jackets nodded to well-loved vintage treasures preserved with tender care. Shorts were cropped and crisp, and there was even a pair of check pajamas in the mix. Business-like gray wools and rich chocolate hues rubbed shoulders with mellow pale blues, yellows and sage green in his co-ed silhouettes, with standouts for women including a sharp gray wool bustier dress.
Cozy knits were tied around the shoulders, a tailored jacket slung nonchalantly across a carryall, and neckerchiefs and ties were lackadaisically knotted. Models carried leather Filofaxes or bags that could double as high-end lunchboxes, while lived-in looking moccasins and flip-flops accentuated the casual luxe approach.
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