MANILA, Philippines - If you look at the way the French dress, you’ll notice their partiality for stark lines, tailored silhouettes and monochromatic slates. Most of The Sartorialist’s postings of Parisian couture show brisk-walking women with nude lips clad in mostly-black ensembles, while Garance Dore, Scott Schuman’s French counterpart, can’t get enough of expounding on textured gray. Carine Roitfeld’s French Vogue is the ultimate class act-ode to precise non-color with its mostly white pages and upfront layout.
This summer, however, the famed je ne sais quoi element of French street fashion takes in more color and frivolity, especially if you look to Promod’s new collection. The ready-to-wear high street chain from France veers away from neutral monotony and checks in Gallic fashion that’s livelier and more cheerful with collections that promote bohemian prints, an upbeat prairie style and exotic Indian-inspired set.
There are romantic pastel dresses with draped details and dainty embroidery, gingham tops and dresses in light fabric, loose beaded tops in jersey-cotton and, mainly because of an capsule collection called Indi, lots and lots of prints: florals, dappled watercolor-style patterns and paisley. The colors also veer away from monochrome with heavy emphasis on bright pink and heart-stopping orange, sometimes even paired together. Even Promod’s take on the safari trend, usually dominated by pocket-heavy khaki, is given a luxuriously playful treatment with insertions of plums and greens and use of ethnic embroidery. Another trend focuses on pirate-inspired fashion: draped sarouel pants (loose, flowy bottoms that are very similar to the drop-crotch pants all the rage now), embroidered jersey tank tops, colorful scarves and ornately embellished accessories.
Says Maila Mupas, Promod’s brand manager, “We cater to women who have a flair for fashion and possess that certain quirky, unpredictable elegance.” She could have been describing the Parisian woman, or she could be describing the woman who knows and loves French fashion but styles it her own way for a more global statement.
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Promod is located at TriNoma, Greenbelt 5, Megamall, Ayala Center Cebu and SM Cebu.
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