The Tamesis
Co-founder Stephanie Danan now lives in Paris, which means she thinks about clothes a little differently. She adds that this means she leans toward the “extreme duality” of being half-American and half-French.
“I always try to balance uniqueness, wearability and spontaneity, those are my three most important factors. It’s always fun to find yourself different from everyone else,” she said in a preview of her pre-fall collection.
This season, this proposition brings together two trends: on the one hand, volume, and on the other, the eternal Parisian love for masculine/feminine style. The former includes baggy overalls paired with crisp shirts, shoulder-baring, low-slung jumpsuits and loosely tailored suits. Roomy leather bomber jackets are embracing next season as clothing-as-shells during anxious times.
The more feminine side comes in the form of two-tiered ruffles—shown here with a wavy trench coat or a black skirt paired with a tailored jacket—or in body-hugging black dresses, which come in one-shoulder, dolman-sleeved and backless styles.
If the autumn palette leans towards “digestible and easy to wear”, the collection also contains some maximalist embellishments, notably camouflage prints and chocolate checks, made in lightweight viscose and cotton poplin despite their wintry connotations. Danan says the idea is to keep the styles a little messy, or take a cue from her own approach to transitional dressing and mix them with favorite basics.
The lineup feels as if it’s all-encompassing, but it turns out that’s by design: CO’s sales have doubled in the past year, winning over fans on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond. Its next move: a Paris Fashion Week debut in March that Danan calls “a bit of a coming out.” CO’s home is minimalist with a twist. Now that the groundwork has been laid, it will be interesting to see what happens next.
