Although Daniella Kallmeyer’s namesake label is known for its cooler-than-cool tailoring and sense of casual ease, the designer does not subscribe to the aesthetic tenets of quiet luxury. “People have used [the term] as a way of saying that if something is simple, or if it looks austere or elitist, then it must be luxury,” she said during an appointment in her Chinatown showroom. “To me, luxury has always been about the moments of personalization, craft, and expertise; and so I really wanted to explore that in this collection.”
Kallmeyer mentioned looking to the work of Cristobal Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin, and Fortuny for inspiration, which at first seemed at odds with her modern and practical approach to dressing, but it all worked. Her tailored separates were completely transformed by the use of silk taffeta. A cropped jacket with an A-line silhouette and a new version of the brand’s It trouser, the Clemence, with its drawstring waistband and a gorgeously draped curved pant leg, were standouts, simultaneously referencing a vintage glamour while retaining a sporty ease.
Pre-fall means summer, so there was also a beachy feel running throughout, courtesy of her memories of time spent in Positano when she was “18 or 19.” A caftan worn with a matching cardigan made from the lightest, breeziest bright yellow silk chiffon, scarf tops, and a pleated layered skirt made from “eight years” of the fabric were imbued with a devil-may-care sensuality, and a simple shift dress with princess seams in a mint liquid silk was made to put on a leggy display on warm summer days.
Color was another place where Kallmeyer injected some newness; the palette of persimmon, aquamarine, and goldenrod came from a show on ancient Roman and Greek depictions of astronomy that she saw at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. In the hands of another less dextrous designer, all these varied references could make for a disjointed collection, but it expanded Kallmeyer’s purview—it’s likely to bring a whole new clientele, both older and younger—while also doubling down on the brand’s own DNA (the pattern for a groovy hooded taffeta track jacket came from the brand’s first collection in 2013). “We’re minimal in the sense that it’s precise, rather than ‘without,’” she noted.
