CALIFORNIA DREAMING MEETS BRAZILIAN SOUL IN THIS NEW YORK DEBUT

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  it’s always thrilling to see a designer’s very first show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.  There’s something about seeing a debut collection that has you feeling you’ve made a discovery, Osklen, with designer Oscar Metsavaht, is no exception.

These easy, breezy looks are made for a summer spent in the Hamptons, or Malibu, or the South of France.  The crisp, clean fabrics and muted, barely-there colors add to the summer feel.

The runway started with whites, blues and pink, then moved into metallic copper and see-through tops with the hint of a desert print.  Structure was the order of the day at Osklen, with almost architectural shoulders and straight lines on many of the looks.  But when the looks softened, they became somehow even more beautiful.

Brighter pops of color came later, all bright yellow and orange.  You could see the sunrise in nearly every piece (or, maybe, a “tequila sunrise”).

Even the final looks, in blacks, whites and deep blues, were so gentle and subtle, they could easily take you from a stroll on the beach to a dinner on a veranda, overlooking the Pacific Coast.

Metsavaht usually shows in Sao Paolo to a very devoted fan base.  Now that he’s expanded that fan base to New York, I hope he becomes one of our mainstays.

Photography: Anton Brookes