Colville took a trip this season — to London. After years of showing in Milan, Lucinda Chambers and Molly Molloy showed in a gallery and design store as vibrant, and offbeat, as their collection.
The venue, overlooking St. James’s Park, was full of neoclassical features and vivid artwork. Models, in their geometric patterned knitwear, dresses and jazzy shoes, looked right at home.
Their long dresses, which were layered over cool flared trousers or under shaggy coats, had bohemian flair and served as canvases for colorful abstract patterns.
Some of those dresses had a Victorian vibe with puff sleeves, while others were more revealing with draped or deep V necks. Standouts included a long, slim dress hand-crocheted in Italy and a purple plissé style with a romantic ribbon fluttering at the back. Both were layered over baggy leather trousers.
Oversized knits came with similar geometric patterns and extra-long sleeves, their colors and patterns echoing the eye-catching leather or beaded handbags that have become a Colville brand signature.
As always, Chambers and Molloy worked piles of deadstock into the collection, slicking brightly-colored stripes onto the sides and soles of Diadora sneakers.
They also took Diadora’s shell jackets and T-shirts and layered them over and under dresses, marrying London and Milanese cool.
Colville’s deal with another Italian company, College Shoes, yielded a chunky loafer-mule hybrid as arty and bright as this freewheeling collection.
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