Mélissa Nepton, Spring 14. Style Democracy called this collection a “dark horse.” After much consideration, I realized what exactly Nepton was trying to do this season. (And it certainly wasn’t “Ladies who Brunch.“) Mélissa Nepton is as enigmatic as fashion designers come. Not because her designs boast sartorial riddles to be solved, but because there is always more to her collections than meets the eye. Her collections are at first glance fleeting – on second glance, unfolding works of art.
Her inspiration for spring is the pikuseru – Japanese for pixel. This explains much of the pointillist prints and graphic patterns and cuts – like whole squares of fabric displaced at random on a sheer dress with a cubic grid appliqué. And there is the undercurrent of la plage here in long kaftans and palazzo pants, a theme Nepton revisits often. In fact, I see her aesthetic along the Côte d’azur, during the 1920s when the Dadaist courted everyday objects as art; clothes, too, go beyond the object – beyond the pixel – with which Nepton has had a most passionate love affair.
