Sass & Bide (Q4726)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Australian women's fashion label founded in 1999
- Sass Bide
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Sass & Bide |
Australian women's fashion label founded in 1999 |
|
Statements
While the last two seasons saw the design team at Sass & Bide loosely referencing prolific artists like Gaudí and Klimt, Pre-Fall was about as literal as it gets. And that’s a good thing. The idea in this latest collection was the exploration of the five senses, particularly that of human touch, and therefore texture was everywhere. It was in the pretty, chunky cropped cable-knit sweater and super-soft and simple navy hoodie. It was in the metallic fringing on a cozy alpaca pullover and the grommets on cool leather jackets and miniskirts. In fact, the collection was titled “Electric Feels,” which was meant to evoke the sort of charge often felt when one human touches another. Connectivity, which we all need now more than ever, was a welcome through line. The linear dot braille on the subtle and lovely lightweight fabric of a long, black dress with silver buttons was impactful, and the thick folds on the selection of black crepe evening pieces were nicely done too.A breezy white tee was stitched with small black cursive on the front that read:Leave a charge on it. Like Pre-Fall’s overall theme of the tactile and its impact on our other four senses, the shirt was a thoughtful and quiet touch from a brand that more often tends to skew towards the glam.
5 December 2017
Imagine a sexed-up, glammed-out version of one of Gustav Klimt’s portrait subjects and you’ve got Sass & Bide’s Spring 2018 collection. The painter, and specifically his use of vibrant gold, was the starting point for this season’s sumptuous and textured offerings. If Fall was about the soft curves of Gaudí’s work, the newer clothes are edgier, harder, and much more textured. In the vein of the much more modern and millennial-minded Klimt and his muses, there was an interesting strapless black thigh-slit dress decorated with gilded paneling on the bodice and embellished with marigold strings that hung down low to the hem of the skirt. A mesh gold floor-length piece that hugged the body was ripe for a Kendall Jenner look-alike, as was the mixed chain-metal mini—both fell into the atypical Sass & Bide party girl aesthetic. But through all the mesh, metal, sequins, and Klimt glisten, the best pieces in this bunch were the simplest ones. The one-shouldered light blush–color dress with pockets and a sculptural belt was lovely, as was a billowy, draped ivory wrap dress decorated with small and not-too-shiny metallic dots.
26 September 2017
After a 14-year hiatus, Sass & Bide returned to Australia Fashion Week. This was not the same Sass & Bide that clothed It girls in the low-slung, halcyon days of the early aughts. The brand has changed creative directors several times since then, now using a collective of young talents to execute its vision. That design-by-committee approach might not be the best angle for a label looking to reestablish itself as the trendy choice for women around the world. The proof is in the unfocused array of items that took the catwalk in Sydney. Inspired by the undulating work of Gaudí, what began with evening gowns suspended with illusion net segued into rope dresses with messy, dangling trim and ended with sequined tinsel knits. The best looks eschewed this fussy, clingy ethos for something more casual. An asymmetric striped blazer worn with embellished jeans touched on Sass & Bide’s original spirit, as did another suit with cut-outs suspended with rope and gold trim.
17 May 2017
This season, the Aussie brand known for its sequined dresses and party-friendly frocks took aesthetic direction from one of Tokyo’s most admired architectural works. Originally built in 1962, the interiors of the modernist Hotel Okura provided ample forms and silhouettes for the new collection, which is not surprising considering Sass & Bide’s consistent draw to geometric cuts, panels, and patterns for its typically body-conscious clothes. Familiar details like zigzag stitching and abstract prints were plentiful, but so were updated designs like the jackets with beautifully graphic obi belts and some shirting with intricate corsetry and side lacing. The latter pieces felt the most on-point when paying homage to the Okura, as did the simple fluid silk dresses and a sharp strapless ivory gown with a pleated and tiered skirt.Everything was nicely tailored and certainly had an architectural feel, even if some of the embellished and printed pieces felt opposite to this season’s Japanese minimalist vibe. That being said, Sass & Bide knows what its customers want and it's always done a fine job of giving them a bold blend of the shimmery standbys and something refreshingly brand new.
28 February 2017
If perusing a rack ofSass & Bideclothes elicits any particular feeling, it’s probably the sudden urge to throw on some platform pumps and party. The Australian label is known for its nightclub-friendly, body-con fits and shiny hand-beaded embellishments. This season’s theme was based on American speakeasies during the Prohibition era, replete with not-so-subtle Art Deco style motifs and a few striking fringe and flapper dresses in materials such as satin-backed crepe and silk moire in rich colors like burgundy, navy, and bronze. The lighter pieces were juxtaposed with heavier, more masculine options, including an oversize wool military coat with medal brooches, an off-the-shoulder peplum top with graphic embroidery on the bodice, and an ivory jacket contoured with strips of leather.Where the dresses and Deco embroideries stayed true to the speakeasy theme, tops printed with feathers, signature skinny denim, and long sheer overlay skirts seemed to go in a different, much more contemporary direction. Sass & Bide may have channeled a classier Gatsby this go-around, but its successful, sultry wild-child party was definitely still in full swing.
18 January 2017
Sass & Bide could scarcely be described as a folkie, or even bohemian, brand, but it was “Moonshadow,” the 1971 track by the dreamy bard then known as Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) from which the Aussie brand’s Spring offering took its cues. Creative director Therese Rawsthorne and her team proffered ultra-youthful nods to pale moonlight spilling across surfaces with luminous touches, as in the rose gold stamping on a sheer graphic body-con knit number and a grouping of pleated, high-shine Lurex items. A busy-looking, somewhat generic floral and text print could’ve been left on the cutting-room floor. On the other hand, glam nighttime suiting, a staple of S&B, came in a nice wide-leg cut in a burgundy shadow stripe.Still, the best pieces of the bunch were the ones that took the romantic spirit of the Stevens canon (and the aesthetics of his early-’70s heyday) most literally: A frilled top with black velvet inset trim and a simple crocheted dress both made for highlights of the narrative here.
20 October 2016
Profusion is never lacking in a Sass & Bide collection, but lately it’s seemed to make its presence increasingly more evident. Resort ’17 is recently appointed creative director Therese Rawsthorne’s second outing for the brand, a lineup inspired loosely by Paris. The clothes themselves were marked less by gamine, Left Bank appeal, and more by the kind of no-holds-barred glamour that might be found, say, outside of a Meatpacking nightclub.Rawsthorne and her team took inspiration, for one, from Baroque palace interiors, whose gold moldings crisscrossed a pair of culottes and strapless top. More winning was a gestural, abstract print borrowed from the city’s chalk drawings and graffiti. Embellishment was as prevalent as ever, turning up as crystals on a nicely spare evening gown, and less nicely encrusting the capelet and waistline of a body-con black dress. Then there were the heavily distressed, heavily sequined jeans, styled with an otherwise lovely metallic crinkled slip dress inspired by La Moss in her ’90s heyday.If there’s the sense that the brand has lost the thread a bit in its tumultuous recent seasons (see: the departure of its founders and the whirlwind tenure of Rawsthorne’s predecessor, and an on-again, off-again runway presence), then a scattershot offering like this did little to assuage that. Here’s hoping they find their footing again soon.
3 June 2016
Embellishment, Deco designs, and drama, oh my! Those are the signatures ofSass & Bide, and the foundation on which new creative director Therese Rawsthorne built Fall’s collection. Though she succeeded briefly appointed Anthony Cuthbertson way back last summer, this season marks her official debut collection. Bearing in mind codes like those aforementioned, and the certain jet-setting, souk-shopping aesthetic which has long been a point of reference for S&B (founders Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke got their start selling DIY’d jeans in a stall on Portobello Road), Rawsthorne set about refocusing the line’s aesthetic to that core.Flag-inspired separates, with their geometric designs and flowing panel details nodded to the winds of travel, and glitter-printed tulle frocks nodded to the kind of unapologetic glitz that has so long marked Sass & Bide. You couldn’t get glammier than a densely beaded cream cape of the stripe that Mick might have sported onstage with the Stones in ’72. One of this collection’s strongest looks, though, was pure Anita Pallenberg: a great black and white suit, striped in thousands of sequins. Tailoring is perhaps an unlikely strength for Sass & Bide, peppered amidst plenty of flowing, generous cutout gowns. The evening jackets here, nipped at the waist and sharp-shouldered, were winning, and struck what has at times made for an elusive balance for the brand: marrying all those ambitious decorative flourishes with a feeling of substance.
2 March 2016
For Pre-Fall,Sass & Bideaimed to return to a more essential brand of glamour. Classic is, of course, a relative term. But Sass since its early days has always been marked by a goodly taste for embellishment, only amplified since Fall ’15.Spangle and shine marked much of the season’s lineup. There were flowing metallic gold drawstring trousers and dresses, densely beaded separates, and a brilliant blue top made of sequins (wholly). Party-girl vibes extended even into daywear: novelty denim printed all over with peacock feathers, a starry jacquard topper. Festive feelings aside here, things began to feel a bit unfocused: the stars, the butterflies, the leopard spots, the Deco-by-way-of-tribal designs. The strongest propositions of the lot were those where the team did, indeed, pare back to basics; the sheer-paneled back velvet top and cream trousers with a finely embroidered waistband were both winning.
8 January 2016
"Kiss the Sky" was the title of Anthony Cuthbertson's sophomore outing at Sass & Bide, but Resort was far from the "Purple Haze" soundtracked bohemia such a name might evoke. No, so far Cuthbertson's tenure at the brand has been one particularly attentive to amping up the already-extant S&B glitz factor. He's fluent in sequins, metallics, and, of course, the tension between the structured and the diaphanous that have long been synonymous with the label.Here was an outing marked particularly by another signature of Cuthbertson's predecessors: the marriage of the urban and the tribal—zigzagging, geometric prints, interlocking, armor-like embellishments. A sheer maxi skirt came printed with the former and paired with a leather-piped bustier top; elsewhere were densely printed caftans, a macramé gown, and cutout sheaths. It was flash enough as to feel heavy-handed in places, and plagued by the same profusion of ideas as Cuthberton's Fall outing. A better edit would have allowed his stronger propositions—like wide-legged trousers with sheer, plissé insets or a series of beautiful Lurex knits—to shine all the more brightly.
29 June 2015
Today's Sass & Bide show marked the debut outing for the label's new creative director, Anthony Cuthbertson. A former consultant for Victoria Beckham and Mulberry, Cuthbertson made his second order of business in taking the Sass & Bide helm elevating the clothes, a priority keenly felt in this collection's focus on embellishment and luxe fabrication. His first order of business, meanwhile, was to locate and extrapolate the brand's DNA, as he explained after the show. For Cuthbertson, that meant dilating on the brand's "warrior spirit." And this collection was very much in the urban-gladiatrix mode.There were samurai-inspired elements, like obi belts and kimono-like shapes, and nods to armor in the collection's emphasis on metallic materials and heavy gold and silver embroidery. Cuthbertson conjured some nice pieces—the outerwear was particularly good—but you came away feeling he still had some way to go in reestablishing a distinctive Sass & Bide voice. The closest he came was with the collection's leggings and fitted knit dresses featuring mosaic-style mirror embroidery. The concept of those pieces felt organic to the brand, but thanks to their undistinguished silhouettes, the execution was a little lacking. Sass & Bide is a tough nut to crack for a newly installed designer; its founders left having defined the brand's essence but without fully nailing down its aesthetic signatures. Cuthbertson did some yeoman's work here trying to finish that job. Only time will tell if he'll get around to completing it.
20 February 2015
In general,easeis not a word one throws around when describing Sass & Bide, a brand for which hyper-structured tailoring, sweeping panels, and dense, Deco-tribal beading are its bread and butter. But Pre-Fall found Sass (minus its founding designers, Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke, out this past July) in a relatively staid mood—nearly monochromatic, featuring several yards less of flou. Maybe the label's New York outpost has been rubbing off on it? There was certainly a lot of black here, and a welcome new coziness: boxy, brushed houndstooth tops; coated sweats; and long, full leather skirts. But it wasn't all burn-out knits and shearling bikers: The familiar Sass & Bide glitz made cameos, too, as Middleton continued to guide the studio team for this outing. Against a backdrop of the wearable and relatively quotidian, a few dresses verged on ostentatiousness. Unfussy moves like teaming a metallic jacquard blazer with a tee and jeans—not to mention casting cool girl Langley Fox for the lookbook—were savvier. While the official debut of new creative director Anthony Cuthbertson (a vet of more minimalist houses Max Mara and Joseph) doesn't come until Fall '15, it felt as if he might already have proved a good influence.
12 December 2014
Despite the July departure of founding designers Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke, the Spring offering turned out by Sass & Bide's design department found the brand going strong (rising creative director Anthony Cuthbertson's debut collection will be for Fall '15). Spring's clothes bore all the richness of the label's recent fare: the heavy, Deco-meets-tribal beading, the ultra-structured tailoring, the bevy of prints. But most extravagant of all this season were the shapes. There were draped tops with floor-grazing panels, billowing pant legs, kimono styling (a Japanese influence was palpable in nearly every look), and lots to be knotted, layered, and generally swanned about in. Drama was the order of the day, but it was unfussy. To counterbalance all that fabric were simpler pieces, like structured knit tops and some slim trousers (though those looked pretty nice with a pleated panel at the back, too). The palette was almost invariably black, white, and emerald—opulent, fresh, and augmented by big prints, including a wild helix design. With shapes like these, Sass & Bide is bound to encounter some skepticism from more petite customers, but all told, this felt like a compelling move for the brand.
7 September 2014
Preppy, WASPish sensibilities mashed up with Moroccan detailing and the brand's signature sumptuous, more-is-more shapes—that was Sass & Bide's premise for Resort 2015. It might seem an unlikely combination, but less so coming from a brand that has long traded on an aesthetic tension between the feminine and the masculine. Here, the former came through in Moroccan-inspired beading and flowing panels, and the latter in bold nautical stripes and a red, white, and blue palette. Sharp, tailored jackets mingled with gauzy jumpsuits that, at their best, channeled a bit of the spirit of Talitha Getty. The addition of sizable crest insignia pins atop the occasional striped blazer was where things jumped the shark momentarily, teetering on costumey. Happily, those insignia are removable for those who'd rather their inner prep fly under the radar. The real scene-stealer was an organza with dense, geometric embroidery, nice in a bomber but exquisite as a maxi dress. It was just one of many winners Sass & Bide had on its hands here.
10 June 2014
Sass & Bide—that's brand director Sarah-Jane Clarke and creative director Heidi Middleton, respectively—know how to party, or so their ready-to-wear would indicate. This collection won't disappoint the label's loyal fans, and hopefully those fans have great legs, because they'll be baring them a lot next fall in a variety of minidresses, shorts, and jumpsuits, sometimes all at the same time. These looks played with lengths and layers, and backstage before the show Middleton herself wore a long skirt (or was it a dress?) with a slice down the center to reveal a shorter layer beneath. "It's all pre-styled," said Middleton. "You zip the whole thing in." Just in case, stylist Melanie Huynh, known for her work with Joseph Altuzarra, combined looks that emphasized the versatility of the metallic knits, voluminous rompers, long-petaled peplums, and, er, mullet skirts.Many motifs—sheer embroidered layers; a largely black, white, and gold palette; plays on lengths—were familiar from recent seasons. It's probably wise for the Australian designers to remain consistent as they further establish their foothold stateside, having opened their first U.S. boutique in Soho just a few months back. But that's not to say this collection didn't feel fresh. A small group in a blown-up plaid of orange, yellow, and navy played with structure and volume, while what appeared to be taffeta in a big, black-and-white buffalo check had a crisp, classic feel. Those patterned pieces, along with a few others in leaf green, were worn with matching backpacks. Backstage, the black-and-white version begged for city schlepping, but when a model marched by with the green one on her back, hands stuffed in the pockets of her wide, billowing split skirt panels, the silhouette had a rather loud echo of nineties rave culture. While there was a lot for the playful Sass & Bide loyalist here, some of the strongest looks consisted of more solid pieces, like a boxy gold sweater or a rich black faille romper. If anything, the collection would have benefited from a bit more of that substance. Asked about the New York store's effect on designs, Clarke didn't hesitate. "It's certainly making us think about coats."
11 February 2014
Hot on the heels of opening the brand's first international flagship (an ambitious space in Soho) and a prodigal return to NYFW, Sass & Bide has kicked things up a notch for its debut Pre-Fall offering. Gold! Glisten! Chunky stone accents! It's the kind of easy opulence that will surely pit smart party girls against their checking accounts. The basic jumpsuit got a swank revamp, outfitted with metallic-gold basket-weave detailing, and fluid maxi skirts, paired with generously beaded boxy tops, proved theGatsbyspirit has a bit of life in it yet. The label's signature Deco-tribal accents were ever-present, adorning the cuffs of a luxe trench, trimming slouchy pants, and generally adding flair. But designers Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke haven't been shy about their penchant for sharply contrasting aesthetics, so for every ounce of more cosmopolitan chic, there was a bit of naturalism. It came most literally in avian prints, seen on a bomber/track pant set, as well as a particularly exquisite bone jacket, where embroidered birds bore tropical blooms. Elsewhere, there were asymmetrical, buttery shearling vests with moto details, baggy cropped cords, and dense, handsome knits. All told? Seems like 2014 may shape up to be an even bigger year for the brand.
26 December 2013
After showing in London for the past five years, Sass & Bide made a triumphant return to New York fashion week (it's in good company, with fellow Aussies Dion Lee and Zimmerman also joining the NYFW calendar). The move was well timed, as the opening of the label's first stateside flagship will be on Broome Street in late November. As usual, the message was in the mix this season. "You can't put the collection in any particular category," said designers Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke backstage. "It's a considered clash—a polished confusion." Combining masculine and feminine elements, they styled sharp satin blazers with flowing Swiss dot tulle skirts; slouchy suits featuring floral embroidery details came with sheer, fluttering trains attached to the pants. Meanwhile, the S&B duo paired a structured, almost armor-like, bustier top with relaxed trousers, and updated a peplum minidress in basket-woven leather. Other standouts here included a houndstooth-printed skort (reversed with the shorts in front and skirt flap in back) as well as cream-colored gowns and jumpsuits decorated with gold hand stitching and tough hardware. The resulting modern mash-up should resonate with girls who refuse to put a label on their sense of style.
9 September 2013
Sass & Bide collections typically have a delicate dichotomy about them, and Resort balanced romantic Victorian influences with sharper, modern ones. The standout opening look—a white deep-V-neck shirt with embroidered lace sleeves worn with on-trend, relaxed ivory trousers—nicely harmonized those two ideas, as did ethereal chiffon gowns embellished with tough hardware that had armorlike appeal. One such gown was draped and slit up the front and back so it nearly resembled a jumpsuit. Denim has always been a major category for the brand, and while indigo is often kept separate from the more editorial offerings, the light-wash ultra-distressed boyfriend jeans here looked fresh with a crisp capelet, T-shirt, and pumps. That kind of eclectic mix should score the Aussie label a whole slew of new New York customers when S&B opens its first Stateside flagship in Soho this November.
18 June 2013
The designers of Sass & Bide, Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton, titled their collection Wintergate this season, and said the offering was "born from a curiosity about man-made objects. We wanted to study the internal mechanics of them."If that sounds a little clinical and sterile, the aim was to cut through that with the contrasts of "beauty and femininity," and there is always a nod to the natural world with the pair. In many ways the collection was a continuation of the stripped-back, stark spirit they began exploring last season. And this element of gridlike control is something that suits their collections well; it has elevated their offerings away from craftwork more toward Kraftwerk.The standout pieces were at either end of the spectrum: sunny, shiny yellow vinyl garments—infinitely man-made-looking and wiped clean—and the floor-length, knitted maxi dresses that had a kind of "future craft" approach. These were also accompanied by a contemporary take on what might be described as a Masai necklace. The collection needed more of those clean, strident statements, although this season did appear less fussy and more together than before.Embellishment was once again used with precision and control, such as to enhance the structure of dresses. What was different this season was that structure itself was transformed into embellishment, particularly in the utilization of caged bodices and armadillo layers. Although it never quite went the whole Richard Rogers with internal pipes on the outside—rather, there was some squiggly piping—this did point the way to how the antipodean duo's clothing could develop in future.
14 February 2013
There was a considerable cash injection into Sass & Bide about a year ago, and it showed today. To begin with, casting doyen Russell Marsh was backstage exclaiming that he wanted his girls to look "Fresh! Fresh! Fresh!" He has one of the best eyes for models in the business, and he pulled many of the heavy-hitting girls into this show. Makeup star Charlotte Tilbury was accordingly making them look fresh, fresher, freshest. You want beautiful girls to out-beautify themselves? Go to her. Meanwhile, the designers of Sass & Bide, Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton, knew they were collaborating with some of the best and were quietly confident in their own Spring collection. They described this offering as "born on a trip to Buenos Aires and Peru—but more about the energy and feeling of those places than the aesthetics."Presenting something more stripped back and stark this season, the duo was working in the vein of "the traditional modernist," according to Heidi Middleton. There was a play on the masculine and feminine, particularly in the use of the tuxedo, as well as on light and dark—yes, this was another predominantly black and white collection for Spring. There was discernibly less of the embellishment and ethnic folderol of seasons past. While it might not have been Le Courb modernism they were looking at, a sense came through of the Deco (or maybe disco) kind, the kind with a small M.When embellishment was used, it was done mostly with precision and control, such as in the edging of a cape or to enhance the structure of a dress. And when the designers went for it, it was still with a certain element of restraint: Witness a controlling grid pattern to encase fluoro orange shells, the intense use of small, oblong silver paillettes, or the almost military-style embroidery on the last looks of the collection.This new restraint suited the collection well and made it one of Sass & Bide's best offerings. They already have 20 shops in their native Australia alone, and their eyes are now firmly set on the northern hemisphere, with global online ordering and plans afoot for a New York flagship store to open in March 2013.
13 September 2012
The new streamlined sensibility in Sass & Bide's Spring collection wasn't purposeful. In fact, designers Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton seemed surprised when a few interviewers suggested the notion after the show. "I suppose it was unconscious," said Middleton. "But there was a lot of newness in the silhouettes and the colors."Clarke and Middleton's love of marrying various elements together was still quite present, only less piled on. The seed of the collection was opposing forces, and in a single look you might find some amalgam of tiny burnished silver sequins, a navy and white batik polka dot, bright silk, a bit of neoprene or metallic leather, and a dash of tribal beading. It sounds like a lot—too much even—but the execution had an almost minimal precision. It seemed as if their magpie urban lass had taken to heart the old Coco Chanel chestnut about taking off one thing (or a few) before you leave the house, but in a macro way. Combing her hair into a sleek, middle-parted chignon didn't hurt the elegance factor, either.Speaking of opposing forces, instead of styling the show themselves as they've done in the past, Clarke and Middleton hired Julia Sarr-Jamois, theWonderlandfashion director beloved by the street-style set for her high-end mix mastery and outsize halo of hair. A stylist's input is a wholly unquantifiable behind-the-scenes element, but from this end, it seemed a smart match.The pair closed the show with a brief debut of their higher-end Gallery collection, perhaps another reason they were feeling for something grown-up. One interesting dress twisted white neoprene into a couture-inspired cocktail dress, just the thing for the fun girl who gets thrown in the pool at the end of the night.
15 September 2011
Since their Fall collection was completed months ago (recall, they're on the Aussie fashion cycle), you can't really chalk up the giddily optimistic color in Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton's show to their recent cash infusion of almost $43 million from Australian department store chain Myer. Or can you? After all, they presciently named their previous collection Papa Sucre (translation: sugar daddy).Backstage after the show, Clarke described their Fall girl as "an elegant and ladylike urban warrior." That Xena of Avenue A is a perennial muse, but this time around, the designers took a lighter hand with their crafty embellishment—here in the quiet form of plaited silk and basket-woven belts. Instead, they passed the baton to all of the rich and electric shades of coral, magenta, and fuschia in fluttery solid silks and some ikats and tie-dyes.These Fall warriors get around the globe, and it shows. "It's about different cultures, different textures, and mediums all coming together," said Middleton. There were enamel feather necklaces and motifs borrowed from African mud cloth. Sometimes the piece of cloth would be draped and belted over a pair of striped "wrap pants"—in exactly the manner that Middleton's been styling herself for a while, At other times, the wrap was worked into a garment and just looked like a separate piece. ("It's pre-styled for you," she exclaimed.) Echoing the graphic black-and-white effect was a silk feather print, which had a terrific textural look with none of the weight.At times, the designers were in too global a state of mind. When the last look, a ruffled ikat skirt, flounced by, you had visions of cocktails by the beach. Not that we ever say no to a mai tai, but aside from a lovely suede dress, there was little here to remind you that this was a Fall collection.
17 February 2011
Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton named their show for Papa Sucre, their fantasy backer. He sounds a lot more voodoo than his English translation, "Sugar Daddy," which may explain the hint of the Caribbean in the raffia appurtenances that decked Sass & Bide's latest collection. But, more to the point, "Sarah-Jane's been meditating," said Middleton. "We've all gone Zen." Which, for this collection, meant a new degree of restraint and focus. If their clothes were once so embellished they could feel built, rather than sewn, Clarke and Middleton here opted for softer, more flattering draping and knotting in a simple, natural color palette. Simplest—and best—of all was a little shirtdress in a black and white broken check. The organic mood carried over into a striated print of what looked like bamboo—and that raffia, of course, in collars, jackets, and skirts. The girls still love their warrior-queen hardware, however: A top with a crisscross drape was anchored by a big copper corset belt, and an otherwise demure shorts suit was weighed down by a capelet of copper beads. Middleton's own outfit offered a viable alternative. She matched her little leather shorts with a black jacket whose shoulders were studded with seeds, rather than beads.
16 September 2010