Season after season we ask, and expect, designers to explain their inspirations, but a lot of nuance is lost in this line of inquiry. The process of taking in new information, images, energies, and experiences, sorting them, and using them as springboards to make something new is often a nonlinear process.
Mara Hoffman’s Tár-influenced—but not inspired—resort lineup is a case in point. You won’t find Lydia Tár anywhere among the popcorn textures, dramatic floral embellishments, and color-blocking, but the film did help Hoffman hone in on ideas of power, especially those related to the masculine/feminine aspects of dress. Tár was a stepping stone that led the designer in the direction of Lady Brett Ashley, the short-haired, bullfight watching character from Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises. This reference in turn bled into Pedro Almovódar’s Talk to Her, and suddenly the design direction announced itself. It’s “like the relationship between the matador and the flamenco, like where they come together,” Hoffman says. “We put the femme into the matador.”
The exuberance of dance is captured in the color palette and the romance of floral embellishments on Hoffman’s famed popcorn dresses. Second-skin knit dresses and bosom-enhancing corset-tops turned up the heat while relaxed suiting and unconventional shirting exuded a cool factor. Hoffman also made a case for mixing swimwear and sartorial elements with both day and date-night options.
Collection
This article was originally published on Vogue Runway.
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