PAISLEY GETS "ETROED"

FOUR PAGES FROM ETRO'S FALL MAGAZINE CAMPAIGN

It is funny about paisley.  Some fashion seasons are universally paisley-friendly or even paisley-obsessed.  Some seasons are not.   It is hard to predict.

Sometimes, within the merchandising universe,  paisley pops up only on the designer level, sometimes only at Target level.  Sometimes it is strongest in the home decor area.  A recent spin through Target's website didn't turn up a single women's  paisley. Maybe in all fairness, that is momentary.  As this is being posted, Target paisleys might be getting assembled in China.

One of those paisley seasons for serious fashion appears to be Fall 2012.   Even Etro, the Italian-based family company with conflicted emotions about the motif, has plunged into paisley fashion with a big, bold ad campaign.  This is a company that identifies with the motif as brand tradition for its silk scarves, handbags, menswear and even dog beds, but sometimes gets nervous about paisley for its fashion collection. Its chic women's designer often prefers less predictable prints, maybe Aztec or Aboriginal.  However, this season, she applies a knowing hand to the motif in bold, beautiful ways. Well done, Veronica.  JP

DO YOU REMEMBER THE ITALIAN COAST?

EARLY 2000'S COAST SHIRT FROM THE COLLECTION OF DEANNA LITTELL.

 

 

 

Women or men -- which do you think gets most misted up about the paisley motif?  I think it is men with their tender remembrances of 70s and 80s decades past, often when they link very specific shirts and ties with important events. If they are from the Financial District, maybe the emotion is right now, tonight, with the comforting custom-made silk paisley dressing gowns that they run home to, accessorized by cigars and antique Waterford stemware filled with reserve scotch liqueurs.

Then, of course, as a separate category there is the Coast shirt of the early 2000s, not from the west coast of the U.S. but from Italy by way of Paris boutiques.  Sold as teammates to Weber pants and Anhaus knits,  all three labels were designed by Remo Ruffini, the man who is now CEO of the Moncler Group.  Bergdorf''s Men's Store seems to have been the HQ for Coast shirts in New York and recently a BG salesman predicted that the shirts will be staging a comeback.

Coast shirts are  known for their wearable patterns, usually touched with black.  They are a soft cotton not meant to be ironed, as in,"I just woke up early on the yacht and didn't want to disturb anybody."  The shirts work with jeans and white pants and, because they are fitted, women have been known to like wearing them also.  JP