“The greatest sense of luxury is freedom, both in your state of mind and your state of self.” So said designer Nellie Partow at the beginning of our appointment in her studio. It was a fitting introduction to a resort collection driven by a sense of ease and comfort.

Witness the custard yellow suit in a cotton twill: A double breasted jacket with a single button is worn with nothing underneath but a silver tubular belt/belly chain hybrid that lays slightly above a pair of roomy flat-front trousers. Or examine the languid bias-cut cornflower blue silk dress with a slight cap sleeve accessorized with black brogues and a simple necklace, consisting of two silver shapes asymmetrically hung from a black cord. (Partow quietly launched jewelry a couple of years ago, but it seems unlikely her pieces will remain a secret after this collection.) A zip-up short sleeve vest and a matching pieced A-line skirt in pink leather was in fact, undyed, the better to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of the material.

Where other new minimalist designers tend to appear very serious, Partow embraces the playful. The knit on a cream scrunchy pleated crepe skirt suddenly changes gauge, becoming sheerer and giving the impression of being recently soaked in water; and a springy knit skirt with alternating black and sheer navy yarns has a sensual appeal, as its sheer panels become evident with movement. The trophy piece in the collection is the coated cotton trench which, depending on how the light catches it, looks like patent leather or like it’s slick with rain (it is waterproof). “It looks almost like a liquid, especially the way it photographs.” Partow said, adding, “Funny enough many things in the collection have a wet feel to them. They have that luminescent feel.” So will the women who wear her clothes.

Maria McManus’s whole ethos revolves around sustainability and the environment, but it was also the unexpected inspiration behind her very colorful and joyful resort collection. “A while back there was a conversation about the desert bloom in California; how there was so much rain over the winter in the deserts that masses of wildflowers bloomed,” the designer said during an appointment in her Manhattan showroom. She was “intrigued” and kept researching it, eventually coming across the Desert X installation by Diana Campbell. “She uses art as a way to look around the world and try to understand the world,” McManus added, clearly finding a common thread with her own practice. “So that was the genesis of the collection; the desert vibe influenced the color palette.” Shades of “tan and sand” laid the groundwork for pieces in bright turquoise and lilac.

Despite its lofty inspiration, McManus’s resort collection is grounded in supremely wearable pieces in her signature eco-conscious materials: the desert blooms manifested in a floral print on lilac cotton that she turned into an easy pair of pajama-esque trousers, a shirt dress, and a cool bandana. Other standouts included a white coat in a textured organic cotton that resembled fur but had the ease and comfort of a bathrobe, a long-sleeve maxi turtleneck knit dress (made from 80% FSC-certified viscose), and a double-breasted corduroy suit in ecru made from “partially organic cotton.”

She also had a terrific pair of flat-front leather trousers (yes, real leather), that are LWG-certified. “It just means the least amount of chemicals are used, and the ones used aren’t as invasive on the environment; and the people working in the tannery are paid a fair wage,” she explained. “I think there’s still so much more that can be done in leather, but for sure I’d rather use leather than polyester.”

Elsewhere, it’s her knits that continue to be highlights: Sweaters, cardigans, and dresses made from wool have a hand as soft as cashmere. A turquoise sweater comes with slits underneath the arms that allows it to also be worn “as a cape,” another turtleneck sweater and dress feature an interesting asymmetrical tie-detail at the waist, which elevates the every-day basic into something more formal and elegant. An aran knit vest in lilac wool was light as air, and had a youthful look when worn with pleated khaki wide-leg trousers. “The wool is Cradle to Cradle certified, so they can trace the source where it comes from and make sure that everybody is treated ethically and fair,” McManus explained. “It’s mulesing-free certified as well, which means the animals aren’t hurt. And the mill in Italy takes sustainability extremely seriously, so all their electricity is either hydro- or solar-powered.” Their appeal instantly doubled.

It’s no secret that consumers look to Cult Gaia designer Jasmin Larian Hekmat for her beachy vacationwear, so naturally her prefall assortment zeroed in on getaway style once again. This year Hekmat focused on what she called the “harmonious fusion of sea and land”—infusing natural, earthy elements into an assortment of cheery sundresses and suiting.

The color palette was airy with an emphasis on breezy pastels. A pink, puff-sleeve mélange suit—Barbie-core, anyone?—could be dressed up for dinner, while a blue knit dress featured asymmetrical cutouts at the hip and shoulder for a sexier slant. Her most ambitious design was the Arya gown, made of crystal cording that reveals the form underneath—a look that’s certainly not for wallflowers.

For evening she went for big statements. A ruched halter dress draped with strands of pearls looks as much like jewelry as ready-to-wear. A golden starfish-shaped bra top could be worn with a black evening trouser—or jeans and a heel. Even the take on a classic LBD had extra pizazz via the oversized copper-like buttons running along the front.

To complete all of these looks, Hekmat of course had fun with the bags—one of the signatures of the brand. One style featured a pearlescent clutch set inside a bigger clear box clutch. A sleek crossbody bag also had a strap adorned with hefty wooden beads. Sure beats a beat-up raffia beach tote.

Tight-knit-family dynamics are apparently a fascinating reference for Ferragamo’s creative director Maximilian Davis. Coming from a Trinidadian-Jamaican clan and working now for the extended Ferragamo tribe, it’s a concept that resonates. “I was looking at Italian families, the pieces a family would wear that can be passed down generations,” he said at a showroom appointment.

The Milanese way of dressing has also made an impression on him. “When I moved here I was amazed at the sophistication of how people present themselves even in the street, at work, or at home.” A friend once said that Milanese women dress like men by day and like sirens by night. Davis certainly picked up on the sense of restrained elegance, but he was also perceptive of that subtly seductive side. What he brings to today’s version of Ferragamo is a sort of rigorous sensualism, pivoting on exact, modern tailoring inflected with a luxe indulgence.

Davis has an affinity for the label’s timeless codes, to which he’s adding clarity and edge, leaning on the craftsmanship and resources the house can provide for high-end execution. That fashion temperatures now are lowered to minimalism’s cool weather also seems to work in favor of his Ferragamo treatment.

For resort, his tailoring was slim and straight-cut or nip-waisted and sculpted, sustained by compact fabrications. A standout in the outerwear offer was a strong-shouldered yet hourglass-y black city coat with Davis’s signature askew buttoning; smooth and velvety to the touch, it was actually made in flocked denim. Like other staple pieces in the collection, it was offered for both genders.

Part of the designer’s game is to upgrade the sporty to a chicer status. Case in point was a classic flight jacket, elevated via a round, mid-century couture-ish volume that was proposed with a midi A-line skirt for a sort of new skirt suit template. Shape-holding yet smooth nubuck leather in a soft shade of caramel highlighted the sensuous touch Davis often adds to clean, linear constructions.

Making the case for a Ferragamo wardrobe for the cool younger people of the family, Davis offered cocoon-shaped hoodies and batwing-sleeve cropped blousons; the ultra-short shorts they were worn with hinted at provocation, even if they were cut in natté wool with a luxurious texture.

What makes Davis’s approach individual are the subtly “perverse undertones,” as he calls them, that he adds to his collections. Here some of the looks were teamed with shiny black patent leather stretch boots with a curved high heel, giving off a fetishistic edge. “In every family there are taboos,” he said. No doubt about that.

Phillip Lim has plans to return to the runway in September. Though he’s gotten used to low-key fashion weeks in the four years that he’s been showing informally, he’s itching to be part of the action again. In preparation, he called this resort collection a “palate cleanser,” but one that’s based on a concept that’s foundational to the 3.1 brand—uniforms.

Not school uniforms or sport uniforms, but art gallerist uniforms. Real-life clothes with high fashion vibes are Lim’s specialty. Shopping his Great Jones Street store is satisfying because his pieces have the look of now, but without the extra zero on the price tags that you find at higher-end brands.

He actually dresses art gallerists, and he’s picked up on a few things: the way they might modify a thrifted jean jacket a couple of sizes too large, how they layer a midi skirt over a pair of trousers that pool at the ankle, their preference for a vintage t-shirt. All of those ideas played out here. His oversize jean jacket is cinched at the back, creating a voluminous blouson shape, and he added a band of lace to a tee declaring “There is only one New York.” For exhibition openings, maybe, there’s a new take on his go-to pouf-sleeved, midi-length dress—a silhouette his fit model has declared the PMA, for “pretty, modern, and appropriate—and, yes, he styled it with long flared pants.

But more so than uniforms, New York was Lim’s subject, as it has been for the last few seasons. One sweet example of his affection for the place was a series of pieces in washed black silk appliqued here and there with photo cut-outs of the waxy anthurium flowers sold all over the city at bodegas.

Luigi Lista bio

I am Luigi Lista, born in Naples on July 3, 1987, I have been involved in photography since I was 16 years old.

My father is a photographer, I have always been dealing with cameras, lenses, filters, films.

My photographic and professional training takes place in the head of fashion, at the same time I have done a number of personal projects.

My interest has always focused on the search for the particular, the hidden, and the promotion of diversity.

Over the years my way of observing reality has changed and become much more introspective.

The approach to photography, and therefore to the project I pursue, changes according to my moods this leads me to work on different expressive and narrative levels.

I do not have a reasoned approach, mine is a no-frills photography, aiming at the essence of things. I work to strip away the soul of things, relationships and situations.

Team credits:

Text and photography: Luigi Lista @luigilista

Styling: Francesco Tizzano @francescotizzano

Talent: Jadine @jadinamie

Tory Burch is a dog person, her beloved miniature poodles Chicken and Slim have their own Instagram account. But cats and rabbits have their moment in the spotlight in her new resort collection. Burch appreciates the 87-year-old German artist Walter Schels’s animal portraits, and approached him for the project. The cat, which is photographed with its mouth open and eyes blazing, captures something of our frenetic time.

Burch herself is always in motion, which might be why she’s been leaning into stretch fabrics and lean, almost athletic shapes recently. Last September at her spring show she introduced a modular concept that combined a stretch top and tube skirt with capri-length leggings, or teamed a stretch top and a part-opaque, part-sheer skirt. For resort, there’s a pair of dresses that recreate the color-blocking of those looks—same big impact but in a couldn’t-be-easier all-in-one shape. The deep-v sweaters accompanied by sheer turtleneck dickeys here do the same thing: You get the look of layers in one completist piece. (Unlike traditional dickeys, these aren’t detachable.)

“I wanted clean lines,” Burch said at a showroom appointment. That translated to aerodynamic jersey tees and narrow skirts shown in monochrome white or navy blue punctuated only with a studded hip-slung belt, or to a leather handkerchief top embellished with more of those silver studs paired with mannish, straight-cut trousers. The tailoring is minimal and stripped of any visible hardware.

Minimal but sensual is the message behind a trio of special dresses that take their cues from ballerina’s tutus. Combining a stretch tulle bodice with a fluid skirt draped from curved underwire, they don’t cling to the body but rather seem to float on top of it. Pairing them with skimmer flats, Burch seemed to be returning to a point she’s been driving home for a couple of years now, that for this designer comfort and glamour are inextricably intertwined.

Sofia Sanchez de Betak has modeled for years, though never for a Chufy lookbook. She’s preferred to keep her designer-founder hat firmly in place in the half decade she’s been operating this label. But as she continues to move away from the destination-based concepts of Chufy’s earlier era, she’s thinking more about the self discovery of spirituality, meditation rituals, and tools like astrology and tarot cards. She’s named this collection The Journey Within, and since it’s personal for her, she decided to step in front of the camera.

It’s a sort of phase one of a new project. Sanchez de Betak plans to launch The Journey Within Retreats. She creates the environments—anyone who’s been to her homes in New York, Paris, or Deia, Mallorca, knows she has a knack for this—and books the practitioners to lead guests on healing ceremonies. And should her guests need dresses for those ceremonies, this resort collection will be a useful starting point.

Sanchez de Betak recommends spare, simple designs for the guided rituals, so there are a couple of easy white maxi dresses with colorful embroideries. And for the blissed-out post-retreat real-world reentry, there are jean and cargo jackets, the latter of which is embroidered with the name of the collection.

Denim is a new category for the label, however Chufy’s specialty remains prints. This season’s “mother print” was created in the style of 1970s artists like John Alcorn Kiyoshi Awazu, and Mati Klarwein, who Sanchez de Betak discovered in design school, and features fantastical animals, magic mushrooms, and shooting stars trailing rainbows. It’s the most psychedelic thing she’s ever done, but the tie-dye swirls, astrological symbols, and tarot card prints aren’t far behind. Definitely a fun trip.

Making fashion sustainable is above all an energy issue, which is why Gabriela Hearst spent her first two years at Chloé focusing on materials, from fiber to garment. There would be no cotton logo tees under her watch.

For the spring 2024 pre-collection, the house’s collection notes cite ”a more nuanced and abstract stance centering on notions of consciousness, circularity, and timelessness.” Those values, it adds, are expressed “holistically on an aesthetic and technical level.”

True to her straight-shooting mien, Hearst puts it much more succinctly. “This collection is about the chicest garment mixing, but actually you’re looking at trash,” the creative director said, somewhat triumphantly, during a showroom Zoom from New York. “Knowing that it’s leftover trash makes me feel good.”

Not that anything about this outing even whispers “leftovers.” Au contraire. Its jeans, the fruit of a collaboration with denim specialist Adriano Goldschmied, are made of a proprietary fabric in 87% post-consumer cotton and 13% hemp. And what appears to be denim isn’t necessarily so: a shearling collared jacket shown here with matching flares is made of suede.

Hearst’s favorite category, knitwear, is another throughline. It crops up in an elegant, fringed ensemble, or in a Merino dress with tulip sleeves and a botanical guipure midriff that could make converts of the cut-out averse. Ribbed knits in lower-impact wool engineered for curves and ease of movement are finished at the seams with jewel-like chains, an element that returns on a black hourglass jacket or a wool coat. Some pieces, such as a wool jacquard cardigan with multi-colored threads, were produced in collaboration with the social enterprise Manos del Uruguay.

For evening, the designer paid tribute to Karl Lagerfeld’s quarter-century tenure at Chloé, a preview of which appeared at the Met Gala last month. The custom column dress worn by Maude Apatow, in deadstock silk crepe with a hand-embroidered arrow motif, is reiterated here in a coat, a dress with swooping arrow in back, and bags, shoes, and jewelry. Not pictured here is another nod, a guitar dress based on the long version Hearst wore on the red carpet.

Beyond those statement numbers was a deep, plush lineup of unapologetically chic, sharply cut clothes in neutral shades of ecru, black, and navy. Those show Hearst’s fluency in the kind of Thomas Crown-ian dressing that women everywhere have likely had trouble sourcing in recent years. A black wool cape coat with nuggety gold buttons, a denim and shearling jacket, fur coats teased from shearling or a cropped chocolate leather jacket made solid cases for gimmick-free, long-term investment dressing.

”[In fashion], people sometimes forget that we are providing a service, something that is beautiful and well made,” the designer observed. “Nobody really needs what we make.” When this collection hits stores, Chloé fans will beg to differ.

Adeam’s Hanako Maeda has been designing for over 10 years. Now that she’s reached her mid-thirties, as she shared over Zoom, her point of view has evolved. Both Adeam and Maeda have grown up, as has her customer, she said. It’s through this introspection that she arrived at her resort 2024 collection.

“I feel like my last collection was very focused on a theme,” Maeda said of her punk-inspired fall 2023 lineup. “I love what I did, but when I design for a runway show I’m always focused on a specific concept.” For resort, rather than hone in on a mood, she decided to focus on “the building blocks of what the Adeam wardrobe is.” While it’s true that every designer aims to deliver “a wardrobe”—a less crass way of referring to a commercial assortment—for resort and pre-fall, Maeda seems earnest in her attempt at paring things down.

The most important part of the Adeam design philosophy, the designer explained, is the idea of convertibility. Opening the lookbook is a belted cropped jacket, which reappears later as a trench coat—the piece is modular and can be either a short jacket, a long trench, or a long vest. Modular and convertible fashion can oftentimes feel over-designed, but Maeda has the right approach in designing with her customer’s lifestyle in mind: “This is great for traveling, because it’s three looks in one, also, when you invest in a designer price point piece, you want it to feel timeless and like something you can wear in more than one occasion and past a single season.” Another example is a knit dress that breaks down into a skirt and either a long-sleeve sweater or a sleeveless top.

Elsewhere, Maeda played off this utilitarian design sensibility by adding workwear details onto denim and tailoring. A run of three dresses taps into the whimsy of Adeam while adhering to the brief of this collection; they look both interesting and easy to wear.

Spread throughout the otherwise streamlined silhouettes in this lineup you’ll spot a peplum or two. Peplums were big in the first half of the 2010s, their popularity often attributed to the explosion of business casual in the mainstream. They’ve had a slow but steady return over the last couple of seasons, and Maeda here makes a solid statement for their comeback. “I like this idea of returning to something that feels classic or a bit retro,” she said, “but it’s also a flattering proportion, and it can be feminine and romantic while being modern.” That’s something else maturity will give you: hindsight. Why not revisit the things that have made us feel our best?