Lemaire Pre-Fall 2015

It's a new day for Christophe Lemaire. New website, new e-shop, and new label, now simply Lemaire, defined as "a collective, independent project led by Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran." But what hasn't changed is the intellectual allure, the almost severe sensuality…and those coats. For their first Pre-Fall collection, Lemaire and Tran sagely focused on "the essential side of Lemaire." English translation: "lots of coats." There was a pared-back trench in a technical cotton; an A-line in oilcloth; a small-shouldered, double-breasted coat with a gorgeous flare in the back; a herringbone coatdress belted in wood (one of those semi-Asian flourishes at which Lemaire excels). Fabrics were substantial, almost masculine: covert cloth, gray melton, Irish tweed. Serious stuff. But the designers also leavened the mix with lighter silk dresses, cashmere knits, a cheeky flesh-colored body-con top, and a Left Bank dandyism in cuffed shirts and capes. For the first time, there were flat shoes. So, a newly relaxed attitude to go with all the other news.