Yeah, baby. Pablo Coppola started getting his head into this collection when the present was particularly dark. He needed no further incentive to retreat into carefully crafted cultural nostalgia. It’s a loose reminiscence, a mixtape of past muses. “I was looking at that Peter Schlesinger book, Checkered Past, and I was imagining this gang of people, who right now you would consider all to be masters, but back in the day were up-and-coming, on the cusp, royals and dandies mixed with artists and rockers. There was this idea that you could mix anything,” said the designer. So, the striped rugger shirt under purple tux muttered of Hockney. The gingham double-breasted suit and astrakhan collar coats barked like Caine. The white camo shawl-collared jacquard evening jacket with matching slippers was nobody in particular, but held enough resonant touches to become a member of this generation’s up-and-comers’ signature. There was a crisp wool burgundy suit with angled pockets and an interesting pajama suit in knit blue. Especially good was the knitted bottle green coat-cum-robe and a double-breasted leather caban with crocodile arms.
Away from the lookbook rails was a pair of white woven sneakers so fine that the temptation to introduce them to the bottom of my man bag was near overwhelming. Before it took hold, Bally’s CEO, Frédéric de Narp, drifted over and delivered an update from the boardroom. He said: “The last 24 months was addressing the birth of the brand. Really accelerating. And it’s done. The look and feel of the stores is set and we are doing 15 to 20 stores this year. Pablo has this vision, and he is bringing it—it is a winner.” It was hard to disagree.
