Michael Kors’ cheerful ode to classic summer chic is proof positive that optimism never goes out of style.
If ever there was a celebration of Americana, Michael Kors’ pretty, preppy, sunshine-filled spring collection was it. Already a bastion of all-American chic, Kors took his reputation as the father of this look (or at the very least, one of the uncles), and ran with it, all the way to Park Avenue, the Hamptons and the little house on the prairie. The result was a picture-perfect Yankee montage: graphic ginghams, dustbowl denim and 1950s housewife shapes stamped with garden blooms. A window to a life where nothing could possibly go wrong. And is that not what fashion’s all about, anyway? Selling a dream that can be one step closer with the simple acquisition of a certain cut, collar or colour.
Kors has built a superbrand on this way of thinking, moulding his name into one synonymous with limo lifestyles and a hefty dry cleaning bill – but never forgetting the wearability that got him his fans in the first place. “I think that women are interested in fashion, but only if it works,” he told US Vogue in 1995. “They’re looking for a new answer to an old question.”
And answer he did, with a collection that defined easy elegance. Soft, breezy shapes, ankle-wrapped flats and a slouchy, hands-in-pockets nonchalance epitomised the effortlessness women everywhere now crave. Enough with the restrictive silhouettes and the impossibility of a life lived balancing on six-inch heels. Sometimes, you just want a classic poplin shirt, a vibrant floral skirt and a marinière stripe – old friends that, no matter how revisited, always feel fresh when you put them on. He might not be focused on dressing the jet-set anymore, but Kors’ sporty, everyday take on romanticism is every bit as appealing. It’s happy clothes for blue-sky days. Show us a woman who doesn’t want more of those.
