By now, it comes as no surprise that lingerie-like lace rules the Karla Spetic runway—as it did once again for this year’s resort collection. Familiar styles in the filmy, openwork material, like layerable undergarments and catsuits (both solid signatures of the designer) appeared in a calm, tonal palette, as if ghostly specters from past collections. Or, as the show notes aptly put it: “These familiar forms are revisited and refined through a quieter lens.”
The collection presented itself as an exercise in restraint and, as a result of the reserved colors, brought two main ideas to the forefront: texture and styling. Where a sheer matching set may have felt ultimately too simple, it was elevated by using a crushed Japanese organza and cinched waistline that provided depth and light volume to the black bra and underwear underneath. Meanwhile, the pinstripe pieces, like a bustier or ruched top, were intermittently sprinkled in with and layered over the sheer lace, giving them an intentional sense of “undoneness.” Understanding all of the minute tricks at play, it became clear that including Spetic’s usual dash of color would have made this season’s meditative practice a moot point.
Perhaps the most spontaneous aspect to come from the experiment was the apron-like pieces printed with sewing patterns (for example, Front Skirt Cut 1). While Spetic was designing, she kept holding the cutting papers up, until suddenly it clicked as a print. The motif was meta and stood out against the softness of the rest of the collection. But for the designer, whose primary emphasis was composition (in both materiality and styling), the print brought her processes to light. “Sometimes,” she said, “it’s nice to see what happens behind the scenes.”
