Credit Au Jour Le Jour for casting Mae Lapres to model the Resort collection. For someone wearing clothes so extroverted, she comes across as strikingly indifferent. Expressive design is nothing new to this young brand; indeed, its signature motif features floating mouths suspended in some state of communication or seduction. All the fringe and flowers this time around made an unmistakably hippie statement, with some pieces less kitsch than others. The navy fringed jacket and skirt combo in sandy suede represented the brand's potential beyond splashy prints. And depending on your personality type, the mix-and-match of rainbow daisies, concentric circles, and optical waves may prove the necessary antidote to the cult of normcore. Certainly, if you're the type to smile at the hotel amenity imagery—including hair dryer, iron, minibar, key fob, and telephone—then the sequin patches and allover micro patterning will feel like welcome additions to your wardrobe come December. But against a backdrop of sheer bohemian dresses with laced plackets, folksy frilled blouses, and hip-hugging flares, the total message gets muddled in too-muchness. Unless, of course, designers Diego Marquez and Mirko Fontana are being ironic about the whole undertaking—with Au Jour Le Jour, it's always tough to tell. Count on good retailers to cherry-pick judiciously; the crisp, extra-long white shirt with the hotel imagery, for instance, registered as a happy medium. And ultimately, it seems futile to fault the happy maximum.
