Etro's summer collection blossoms in Adora
MANILA, Philippines - Etro’s signature paisley design is so rich in legacy and inspiration that it has sprung a consistent well of creative output.
Designer Kean Etro, who used the iconic pattern to show color and prints in past men’s collections, has now focused on a laid-back interpretation of the paisley. This season was all about monotone moods and hints of sensuality that the brand has never done before. The predictable paisley shirts are now sheer in silk. Etro prints gently lie over jackets and pants, and a reverent sameness is seen in almost-transparent lace shirts. All this heady tonality is grounded with earthy suits and coats of tan, bone, and olive green yet never without a touch of daylight in its brass yellow leather accessories.
Etro women’s, on the other hand, brings with it an unusual balance of pairs. Prints and outlines and accessories all show a sense of high-brow chaos. This is a good thing because they have resisted the temptation to let go of too much control — balancing wild abandon with a bit of prim and proper. For its spring collection, Veronica Etro matches urban intelligence with a powerful indigenous flavor. She combines tea-time pleasantries with the primitive, playing ethnic patterns patched neatly onto separates, shirtdresses. Even cropped, high-waisted pants hold up carefree scarf dresses. Veronica also weaves volume into Etro’s old-school approach especially in jaw-dropping solid-colored pieces — definite trail-blazers when seen in the context of the brand’s lineage. The floor-length or knee-length dresses with one-shouldered puff sleeve send a poignant message of density and taking up space, as opposed to miniature space-savers of the past.
Making note of its newfound calm and zen-like peace, this is Etro’s glorious attempt at shuffling off the old and bringing in the new. The showy paisley of old belongs to Etro’s reputation from times past. Thankfully, history will not repeat itself.
Available only at Adora, second floor, Greenbelt 5.
