It was obvious that Nellie Partow was thinking about textures for fall. On the rack in her studio, two pieces covered in paillettes immediately stood out: one a short sleeved tee with covered sleeves; the other a long shirtdress with all over-embellishments down the front as well as the yoke on the back. Upon closer inspection, the paillettes were in shades of pearl and cream, their edges a familiar burnt brown. “Texture was really important to me this season,” the designer said. “But there was a grit that I wanted to also play with, so for the paillettes, we put them on a string and burned them by hand.” She showed a video of the process on her phone. How did she get to the point where she began burning stuff with a lighter in her studio?
“I’ve always had that element of wanting to fuck things up a little bit. It doesn’t all have to be so precious all the time,” she said. “What I really want is to stay true to building a wardrobe, and what does that look like in this moment in time, and how does it resonate with real life?” The paillettes had an otherworldly quality to them, like relics. In the lookbook, Partow and her longtime collaborator, the stylist Camilla Nickerson, showed them with flat front flared trousers made from natural, undyed denim: they seemed like perfectly normal attire for every day. The collection really delivered on great-fitting trousers this season, from the colorblocked pair in wool suiting (worn with a fun matching cropped jacket), to the extra wide-leg flowy pleated indigo trousers. “We’ve left them exaggeratedly long, and they’ve got a really great puddle,” said Partow. Consider them a very luxurious, grown-up pair of JNCOs.
Elsewhere in the collection, the search for texture turned into some uncharacteristic disco vibes. A light-as-air silver lamé dress had an easy fit and ties at the front that grounded its gossamer vibes. The fabric, of course, was not your coarse 1970s lamé. “This French mill that we work with, they do this unique thing where all the metallic ribbons are cut round, which makes the lamé feel very soft, just like silk,” Partow explained, softly caressing the fabric. Her knitwear has always been one of her strong suits, and this season, the lurex-mix sweater and skirt were another new take on after-5pm dressing. Also, said Partow, “They look cosmic when photographed.”
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