Ports 1961 RTW Fall 2019

“I wanted the woman to be a bit more elegant this season,” said Ports 1961 creative director Natasa Cagalj. “I wanted to refresh her and let her become a little bit undone, working with mistakes and the spontaneous elements that happen in the process.”

Cagalj concentrated on reworking the pieces she considers to be wardrobe staples, the Crombie coat, the skirt and trouser suits, the white shirt.

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As for her mission to undo, she went at it quite literally, sending forth a sophisticated lineup that was, in turn, unfastened, slashed open or left undone, suggestive of hasty dressing.

Armholes of coats had sleeves attached by the barest means, providing ample ventilation; shirts and dresses were cut so that the front hung down, allowing a flash of exposed shoulder; other dresses were slashed, affording glimpses of the waist or leg, and sleeves were optional in great trenchcoats, one in shiny plastic-coated gray, the other in classic olive gabardine bonded to a micro check, with sleeves that peeled away to form a sort-of cape at the back.

Pattern came via a “bourgeois” wallpaper print, lovely in bright vermilion on crisp white dresses or shirting, while long tassels on earrings, pendants and zip-pulls in handbags were made from hair extensions in a witty little trompe l’oeil.

Deserving of special mention were two beautiful gossamer-fine knits — one long, black sweater and an off-white dress. They were fringed bands of densely looped mohair, that moved with a mesmerizing buoyancy down the catwalk. Cagalj called them “our take on fur.”

Launch Gallery: Ports 1961 RTW Fall 2019

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