Having decided to swim with the tide for fall (a choice many brands are making) Sea’s Monica Paolini and Sean Monahan lavished attention on “real” clothes. “I know it’s boring to talk about war wardrobe dressing,” said Paolini in a preview, “but people are not buying so many whimsical things right now and it felt like it was more time to just do our version [of classics], but add special touches.” To wit: an irresistibly haute boheme trench with French knot embroidery. The same technique was used to different effect on an equally desirable blue and white tracksuit. Related decorative touches included black leather bows on a puffer jacket, sparkles on lace, and pearl-embroidered jeans. Knowing, noted Monahan, that “people aren’t going to buy basic denim from us,” the team put much effort into the category. Sourced from Japan the material was worked into an unexpected bubble skirt and A-line jacket set. Denim and tweed outerwear was embroidered with rustic motifs in a theme of harmony that further developed a quilt-inspired idea introduced last season.
The range of techniques in the fall line, which included sari-scrap patchworks, shibori, lace, and jigsaw-pieced smocked velvet, was impressive, yet perhaps overrich. By now it’s a given that Sea is a go-to destination for pretty bohemian pieces; but there’s so much more to the brand. It’s often the ideas and stories that stray from the aesthetic the brand has cornered that keeps it moving forward and in dialogue with a larger fashion conversation. Such was the case with a soft corduroy suit with a ’70s feeling, an “art-teacher” robe coat with melon sleeves, and Fair Isle knits which lapped against the shore of fall trends while remaining identifiably Sea.