Sailor pants and peasant blouses. Batik and pearls. Macramé and tailored blazers.
These are just a few of the seemingly disparate elements that make up Tory Burch’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection. The designer, in the show notes, described it as the embodiment of the “relaxed and effortless… quintessential American style.”
It’s East Coast meets West Coast, beginning with Waspy-chic cardigans and billowy maxi skirts. Then there are preppy nautical-print sweaters and tennis skirts, wide-leg sailor pants and pearl- and cowrie shell-embroidered blazers—all reminiscent of East Coast-born Burch’s youth.
In a nod to the laid-back California girl, Burch moves on to tunics, caftans and boho-cool dresses in batik print, or with macramé and patchwork details, some of which were borrowed from Bolivian motifs.
Burch’s palette for the season is predominantly green with a liberal sprinkling of pinks. The nautical themes are rendered in navy and reds, against backdrops of white and ivory. Warmer tones of orange and yellow make up the West Coast part of the collection, with the batik prints and the suede accessories.
For the first time, Burch also sent white sneakers on the runway, with a feminine touch-ruffle trims in green, red and navy. There are two-tone loafers and pumps (white and navy) as well as preppy mary janes, also two-tone. While most of the heeled mules are rendered in earth-tone suedes, there are also dainty slides covered on the vamp with pearls.
bag comes in several colors.
Key bags from the runway are the dainty, top-handle Bermuda styles, some with jewel embellishments or needlepoint treatment; the Gemini Link crossbody style with cutouts; and the Sawyer shoulder bag of various treatments. The Sawyer is named after one of Burch’s sons.
For accessories, there are gumball-size pearl chokers and earrings, dream catcher earrings, as well as mismatched fish-motif danglers.
Burch’s commercial collection varies slightly from the more whimsical runway pieces. Key bag, for instance, is the Block T satchel, a lightweight and functional top-handle style with an adjustable crossbody strap. It’s a classic style, and for spring, the brand is pushing its neckerchief as a bag accessory to give the purse a fresh, playful look.
The multifunctional silk scarf/bandanna can be tied on the purse handles, or even tied around the wrist with the Double T Link watch.
Tory Burch is at Greenbelt 5, Makati; Rustan’s Makati; and Rustan’s Shangri-La. The Spring-Summer 2017 collection is available from February through Stores Specialists Inc.
