Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s spring collection opened with a Renaissance maiden—the Ophelia of a story with a happy ending, let’s say—covered in flowers woven and real. Joseph Free, the sisters’ longtime collaborator, crafted the fresh cut earrings and belt on set. Flower-shaped jewels adorned the curved neckline and form armlets on a scene-stealing Empire dress with long, slit, lace-edged sleeves.
While this garment seemed to have a built-in narrative, this was not a Once upon a time kind of collection, rather it was a meditation on color and form. The sisters’ preoccupation, said Laura, was with “large, voluminous sleeves, and silhouettes that feature the upper part of the torso mostly, and then having beautiful cascading gowns or hemlines; anything that could flare out and look like wind would want to blow on it.”
The Mulleavys’ use of lace, airy tulle, wispy chiffon, and soft georgette dresses with trains that attach to the hand with flowers would be perfect for wafting. Bias-cut silk and satin clung to the body in slip and Empire silhouettes. The focus on the latter was fortuitous given the upcoming release of the new film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. “I think book readers could hop into this space easily and transport into something they grew up with or read now and love that feeling of,” Laura noted.
The repetitive consistency of shapes was relieved by the pastel palettes, trims like velvet ribbons and ostrich feathers, and material developments. Several dresses were made with layers of lace, one Chantilly and Leavers, the other Chantilly and corded lace. Said Laura: “It just looks richer somehow.”
