Adam Lippes made a trip to Japan last December, visited Tokyo and Kyoto and stayed in a Ryokan in Shuzenji. He came back enthusiastically, like so many, about “a culture that is constantly looking for a higher form of perfection.” Reizen has informed his recent collections; A journey through Sicily was the starting point for his pre-fall outing, for Resort it is of course Japan.
Pointing to the geometric mosaic print of a shirtdress in shades of navy, chocolate brown, gold, plum and pressimmon, lippes name checked robert motherwell’s Lyrical suiteA series of 600 ink paintings. Motherwell used Rick paper, instead of traditional canvas, who gave the paintings their ‘delicate, transparent quality’. The influence of Japan on this collection was indeed subtle. The references were present when you searched for them, in the relaxed form of balloon pants, say, who are a nod to the uniforms of the construction workers, or the loose sleeves of wrap shirts, which are cut along the lines of a summer yukata. There was also a floral print inspired by a paint of a Meiji period.
But you don’t have to be a Japanophile to have fun in this clothing, whether it’s the shine of a lacquered woolen trench in a deep hue or the brushed mohair of a boxy jacket. One wear of his “sweat wells” in luxurious double face Merino-Brei and you will never go back to the standard problem of cotton. “It’s really sporty. Less chic,” he said, riffend by the racks on a photo shoot. “We go out of a kind of clothing phase in divorces – it feels good. A sheath dress is easy to design and make, but she wants more interesting shapes.”
That applies to the evening, as much as day. The quilted side and the lurex of a bandeau top and slender line skirt felt almost weightless, and a simple but striking V-neck dress that glides over the body was cut with a single seam with the help of a Japanese pattern technique. He brought out a tank dress in a wrinkled fabric made of silk and metal. “It is a bit pushed for me, not to be pressed,” he laughed, his own search for a higher form of perfection that produced an unexpected, fascinating result.