We’ve been talking about reemergence for months now, since well before the fall “shows” took place via Zoom appointments and look book reveals in February. Those collections were hopeful, but perhaps a bit tentative. Few of us had been vaccinated at that point and case numbers were still threatening to increase. Fast forward to the resort collections now taking place and the collective optimism is a lot more convincing.
New York state’s positivity rate is down, and sales are up. That helps. So does the backdrop of a city coming alive again. Everywhere you go, people are reveling, and they’re dressing up to do it. Adam Lippes tapped into that energy for a resort collection designed for “going out again.” The rack that greets visitors at his new showroom is lined with party clothes: a gold Lurex fringe slip dress as glittery and weightless as tinsel, a draped long dress with a peekaboo bodice in black Chantilly lace, a candy pink taffeta gown with a sculpted neckline. Even the jewelry knows how to have a good time. The rectangular locket in many of the look book pictures holds a pair of dice.
Reemerging means more than cocktails and galas, of course. Lippes’s blazers have become a go-to for Dr. Jill Biden since her husband took office; last week she wore an icy blue version aboard Air Force One along with a matching sheath. The first lady sheath dress mingles with corduroy bombers and flares; the silk charmeuse pajama sets he developed during the pandemic that he’s keeping in the mix; double-face cashmere in the form of a tunic, a lapel-less jacket, and a hooded camel coat; and a draped bodice, nipped waist dress he calls the Waterfall that one client liked so much she ordered it in 16 different colors. How could his mood not be up?
