Rosie Assoulin Spring/Summer ’16

Rosie Assoulin never fails to delight. And we don’t use the word delight very often. In her first collection as part of the Swarovski Collective, the New Yorker let a little shine into her modern-dramatic wares—with geometric, colorful crystals that are graphic but still feminine. Using silk failles and poplins, with bursts of pink, yellow, red mixed with more subdued natural linens and bright whites, the presentation inside a pool downtown was the ideal mix of glamour and grit. That pool theme rang through with board short details and swimsuit inspired cut-outs. Hear from Assoulin about her Leandra Medine styled collection, Aaliyah and getting in the crystal game.

HB: Tell me what you had in mind for this season?

Rosie Assoulin​: There’s so many different things that we tried—energies and sort of moods that we tried to bring into it, but at the end of the day, it also felt very relaxed and very comfortable. Not necessarily easy, because I think it’s okay to try and have fun and experiment and be curious; but sometimes easy’s just lazy. But still giving a little bit of edge and a little bit of tension, we worked with new materials. We’re part of the Swarovski Collective, and we worked with Paul Andrew and made shoes for the first time, which was amazing. We worked on jewelry with my mother -in-law Roxanne Assoulin. It feels all very different, but I think it can be the same girl for different occasions—there’s still something there that feels very signature and has an identity.

HB: What was the thought behind those cut outs—that feels really new.

RA: We had this swimwear idea of sort of flipping it and reversing it and covering it, wearing a bathing suit on the outside of the clothes, but still being very covered. There is a sort of trompe l’oeil motif with swimwear and activewear that is really very fun and fresh‚but there was something elevated about it. We use beautiful materials, so I think we tried dealing with it to the best of our ability. And we also worked with Swarovski Collective which was incredible because it’s a luxury product and an amazing investment to make of time and material and we got to really – not just go with it, not just explore, but really kind of push it in a way that I don’t know what could have if we weren’t part of the collective. So that was really, really great.

The designer: Rosie Assoulin

HB: In the past you haven’t worked with much embellishment, how did you approach working with Swaovski crystals?

RA: I think we started to try to give it an industrial feeling. And there was an artist, J.D. Thompson, and we love how he presents colors. We’re like, “This is perfect, this is how we’re gonna do it.” He does these cool paintings, it felt very appropriate. We also used a lot of metal snaps, they have that sort of industrial tension. We did it on poplin and we did it on georgette. So there’s two feelings, two identities to those different fabrics. It’s kind of like a new direction that we get to go in and play with. It was fun.

HB: There is a look that appears to be boxers underneath low trousers that’s very reminiscent of Aaliyah and really cool.

RA: Yeah it does. And like Gwen Stefani. Everyone is saying that, referring to these really great, very strong women that are still very feminine and sexy and beautiful and smart. And it never took away from what they were trying to do, their individuality and personal style. And it’s okay that it’s not for everyone. Not everyone is going to like everything and that’s okay. And hopefully that doesn’t stop, you know? Everyone is different. People are different. Even the models. You would think that everybody between 5’10” and six feet is the same—but everyone has different bodies, different things that work on them, they have their own insecurities, their own things they want to show, everyone is different. And I love it. There’s so many different ways to wear this stuff and it looks different on everybody.

HB: It looks really joyful.

RA: Yeah it was fun! It was fun, it was really fun. And we’re at a pool party!

Via: HarpersBazaar.com