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Pre-fall finds Christopher Esber throwing out a few new ideas. “I felt like now was a good time to be nerdy about creating with pattern and shape, which is less about the fabric and more about construction,” the designer explained during a couture week visit to his Paris showroom.
Well-known—and endlessly copied—for his jewel embellishments, the designer expanded his repertoire, using elements that felt collected over time to amp up fabrics usually associated with men’s wear or incorporate details seemingly unearthed from grandma’s hoard: a bit of crochet, a lashing of lace, pieces of patchwork, home linens, wooden beads, and multi-colored shoestrings aplenty.
“I thought it would be fun to play with generational tension,” he said, picking up one of his current faves: a dress fringed with shoelaces from shoulders to waist, and again at the hem. Further along the racks, orange flares rigged up with a shoelace belt detail brought an elevated take to a DIY flourish that’s been popular of late among stylish Parisian teens.
Esber revisited foundational pieces, transposing the idea of a tailored trench into a bomber or an asymmetrical buttoned skirt in tropical wool. A leather bomber, in turn, was elongated into a halter dress with a front zip and gathered waist. The idea of moiré wallpaper was spliced with denim on Bermuda shorts; a nod to home linens paired with yellow crochet on a sarong skirt, or with lace on a breezy summer halter dress in resort hues of turquoise and sea green.
The designer’s fan favorites—sensual, fluid “shell” dresses in jersey, sharply tailored jackets and trousers, beach-to-cocktails ruched tops—were all here, too. A few of those looked foundational, among them like a tailored take on yoga pants, a leather bustier, a halter top in beige check with a swingy silver and tiger-eye necklace detail in back, and culottes that can also zip into a skirt shape.
“I love a throw-on piece, but it has to have the finer details,” Esber offered. “We wanted to make sure they were mindful but also innovative.” All those things, as well as flights of fancy, improbable associations, and hints about where he wants to go next could be found in this magpie’s feast of a collection, the designer’s broadest to date.
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