CO|TE’s spring outfits have that kind of structured tailoring and panelled details that make them feel like uniforms of the future. Those geometric panels – especially when rendered in bold colours like orange and purple – give off a kind of mecha warrior vibe… like a simplified and beautified version of armoured robots from a cartoon world. On bags and belts these mecha shapes morph into something more akin to Art Deco motifs; the leather goods they adorn kept minimal in a perfectly modern way.
These themes were what drew me to CO|TE initially, but the collection’s refined and sophisticated elements also play closer to the classic – still with modern twists, but perfectly subtle ones. It’s hard to go past sherbet pink silk shorts and top, pleated and pintucked in meticulous shapes, or a crisp and voluminous white skirt that sits as sharply as if it were from the wardrobe of a character from The Jetsons.
There’s no single style to CO|TE’s spring / summer 2013 collection – some fabrics and thick and starchy, some diaphanous and light, there are straight leg pants and wide leg pants, shawl-collar dinner jackets and coats with rounded cocoon sleeves, block colours and prints, smooth textures and rough ones. But it all comes together cohesively and not an item feels out of place. The young label’s Italian design duo – Tomaso Anfossi and Francesco Ferrari – make sure of that.
View the full CO|TE spring / summer 2013 collection by clicking on the thumbnails and browsing the gallery.
