A few seasons ago, Mary Katrantzou brought fashion’s elite to its feet with her Fall 2014 ready-to-wear collection, which not only showcased that she had the courage and confidence to depart from the signature that made her brand echo around the world—prints—but that she was also capable of mastering a new style with aplomb.
The designer graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2008 and today she went back to school to showcase her Spring 2016 ready-to-wear collection in the main atrium; the established designer had all the press and buyers in tow, eager to see what she had in store. The show opened with a long-sleeved dress whose colors—metallic silver, blue, garnet, and gold—pulsed with futuristic undertones. A second dress featured a detail around the bustline that hinted of a shield. But then, from this same armor, Katrantzou did an about-face and transformed these lines along with the entire look and feel of the dress into a frock so light and airy it reminded of a nightslip crafted with shimmering butterfly wings. These looks then morphed again to reveal dresses that appeared to have the bumpy texture of a lizard. She next waxed-poetic with flower print collage dresses, and ruffle details that reminded of underwater brain coral, before closing with severe striped pantsuit looks. Katrantzou is a chameleon with a stereoscopic vision who always manages to bear out that under all those layers, there’s no one else but her.
