I was first smitten with the designs of Rosie Assoulin on the blog, Man Repeller. It’s founder, Leandra Medine, has created a space where fashion lovers can walk in with their intellect, and their gloriously-lavished stilettos, while telling a raunchy joke. It was over three years ago that Leandra shared the excitement over her friend Rosie’s premiere collection. I remember thinking that Assoulin’s clothes were fresh, and inspired. But moreover, they were to the wearer that exact, right mix of something magical that acts as the goodwill advance team. Put on a pair of her pants, or a statement top, and a glimpse of a woman’s indescribable gist, core of spirit comes out. Rosie is the every woman–the it girl, girls’ girl, that girl. It would seem that Assoulin is intuitive, able to draw out a woman’s particular essence through the fibers of the fabric.
Rosie Assoulin
In NYFW: Rosie Assoulin, I wrote about the appeal of particular aspects of Assoulin’s Fall 2017 presentation. It was the first time I had seen her fashion week originality in person. It was like entering a ladies salon, made welcoming by the energy that wafted around from the clothes in the room. The atmosphere was amplified by settees covered in plastic–just like at grandma’s–exposing a sweet vulnerability to perfection, thrift and preciousness. Tea carts were set up with gleaming silver and fine china. Sweets were piled on tiered dessert servers, offered by friendly butlers. A beautiful palette of colors was spread out on a coffee table, as a painter illustrated the gowns, the pants, the shoes in the en plein air mode.
Like her fashions, the guests were singular in style, and united in Rosie. People lingered, like they felt at home–like a Sunday family dinner.
And bringing more to the table, for the first time Assoulin has now added shoes, courtly shoes to her collection. An extension of the turn of the leg of a settee, the line of her dress, the grounded nature of her aesthetic. I want to walk in those shoes.
Photos: Dawn Bell Solich