In its most commonly used form, the word chic means style with an aloof poise. There’s a distance and a coldness to traditional chicness; a chic woman would tell you “elegance is refusal.” Humph. Lucky for us, A. Potts designer Aaron Potts offers a different kind of chicness with his genderless collection: a beauty and freedom in dress that is friendly and warm, with an approachable elegance.
Potts’s silhouettes are about as traditionally couture as they come—cocooning shapes, layered coats, and full-skirted gowns—yet each reads joyous instead of staid. That has a lot to do with his fabrics and color palette this season: yellow and gray pieces rendered in tissue-weight jersey; wool; faux foil leather; and a fluffy mauxhair, as he calls his faux mohair. Speaking over a video call, he described a need for optimism and creativity. “The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t cliché,” he said. “It’s necessary.”
To realize his celebratory vision, he cold-emailed Yannick Lebrun, a dancer at Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, who helped cast fellow dancers Khalia Campbell, Fana Tesfagiorgis, and James Gilmer in the look book and film. The four performers are the perfect complement to the clothing, showing its brilliance without obscuring their own. Lebrun is captured mid-dance in a horsehair-trimmed gown; Campbell fans out a cocoon jumpsuit worn with an exaggerated ski hat; Gilmer looks godlike in ombré plaids; and Tesfagiorgis gently shows off a sun-colored poncho and reflective pants. The real winner, though, must be Campbell in a slate gray ensemble, layered bubble trousers, sweater, coat, and hat. She looks like the kind of woman you would chance upon in a gallery at the Met or at a stately restaurant. Chic in the kindest, most modern and elegant way.
