Dear Diane and Shaded Viewers,
I visited Victoria/Tomas at MC2 Showroom to see their SS15 collection and I was surprised, in a good way.
Victoria Feldman and Tomas Berzins have become known as leather specialists, where subtle hints of active-wear inspiration enters their mostly sombre-coloured collections. This season, however, there was a new lightness to their work, in colour and construction.
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"We wanted to propose something else; something that's clean, clear and avoids unnecessary assemblage."
The off-shoulder gathering and simple ideas of layering were exactly this. By using the lining as a pleated feature emerging from outer leather shells, one piece seems like two layered garments but without the weight. They have kept their focus on natural diagonal lines that avoid anything too complex or feminine, though in the sunwashed silk and french cottons there's a certain softness that they hadn't yet explored.
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Within the collection is a series of pieces that have been developed in isolation to achieve the correct form, and then repeated in 5 colours – white, blue, black, shirting stripe and fine denim. The strength in construction suggests something different in each hue, so it's not boring to see, but obviously something that buyers would favour. Clever.
After being finalists in the Festival de Hyeres in 2013, Victoria/Tomas have been producing strong collections. This season, I saw their self-awareness and real desire to evolve; something that's quite rare from such a young brand, or any brand for that matter.
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http://www.victoriatomas.com/
Happy Saturday,
Sophie Joy
