Mandarin Collars & Raffia Fringe in Duro Olowu’s Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Duro Olowu’s work expresses a firm belief in the mix, of the beauty that comes from fusing influences far and wide. An excellent tailor, he hews to classic Western fashion proportions and silhouettes, but uses them as the jumping-off point for combinations of colour and pattern loosely suggestive of the gorgeous tumult of the multi-culti urban cityscape.

This season, he raised the volume on that vibrancy, emphasizing bold graphics and a flashy palette, and threading in globe-trotting details such as kimono shapes, mandarin collars and raffia fringe. The lines of the clothes were elegant—Olowu will never sacrifice flattery of the female form in order to make a conceptual point—but the way they commingled disparate elements carried a strong, if subliminal, message nonetheless.

This was an item-driven collection. Olowu paid particular attention to his trouser cuts, introducing new, cropped shapes, and he heightened the drama of his stock-in-trade dresses by sneaking in volume via hidden pleats. The evening looks were particularly resonant, done in precise yet relaxed shapes that exuded a nonchalant glamour. The assertive colors and patterns gave them a bird of paradise quality: The Olowu woman will be seen. And she will be heard too.