Yves Saint Laurent. Ralph Lauren. And as of this morning, Astrid Andersen too. The young Danish designer of ceremonially lush, basketball-based sports luxe took on one of fashion’s most laden tropes: safari. “All the houses have done that safari theme,” she said. “And that’s what I want to do: Take something that has a place in fashion history, but do it our way.” Thus, this was not “safari” in the dentist-shoots-lion sense. The only real whisper of that generic source material were the billows pockets that featured on some of her long-yolked collarless shirts and heat-sealed technical parkas, plus some sunbonnet headwear. This was more “safari” in the sense of its Arabic via Swahili derivation of travel: an expedition-equipped Andersen.
It visited several of her landmarks. Iridescent lace from Sophie Hallette was used in those hats, as well as on the hems of cropped logo sweats and panels in parkas. Other fabrics drawn from non-sportswear traditions include crushed velvet used in racerback vests and tracksuits, a bird-and-flower print on pistachio silk, and a horizontally lined feminine tweed in blue or green. For the first time Andersen incorporated shirting patterns to give added credence to her pitch for the tracksuit as formalwear. With the exception of one mighty fur that looked like it really might have been bagged in the wild, this collection gently stepped back from the baroque opulence of last season to present a more pared down, at least for Andersen, wardrobe for modern wanderers. Chunky jewelry, most of it worn on the arm, made from Brazilian crystals and Philippine acacia by the Danish firm Monies, was their souvenir picked up en route.
