“The ’80s are always with me. That was the best decade: It was fun, and there was something about how women looked wonderful that’s hard to forget,” confessed Carmen March. Her Fall 2019 collection was all about delving into the much-referenced decade, but going at it in a more contemporary approach and a relaxed attitude. Perhaps the best takeaway from that era in this collection was the sharp tailoring, particularly the menswear-inspired looks. A nude-colored pantsuit was definitely taken from the playbooks of such designers like Giorgio Armani (the original master of 80s tailoring), white the black incarnation with silver-spotted lapels and worn with similarly-spotted thigh-high boots were quintessential party-girl of any decade. A high-waisted plaid pair of wide trousers was also very 80s, but wearing it with a bandeau was more 2019 than 1989. As for the rest of the collection, if only March had a time machine to go back to the days when such pieces were relevant. Granted many are going the 80s route nowadays, the designer’s own interpretations were too on the money, to the point that they looked like the wardrobe of an 80s-inspired film. Had they not been styled the way they were, these clothes wouldn’t look as new and relevant as they did in the lookbook. They’d simply be rehashes of fashions past, and what good is that to an industry who yearns to move forward?
Photo: Brianna Capozzi/ Courtesy of Carmen March
