Just so you are up to date with the ever-shifting landscape of the European fashion world, here is a guide to the current state of play: In Milan, new designer Umit Benan is presenting his debut collection for Trussardi at an all-out extravaganza show in a few days’ time. In Paris this month, studio hand Olivier Rousteing will take a bow at the end of the runway for the very first time this month. Meanwhile, over at Dior, the creative director role is still, as of now, classified as “Position Vacant.”
It’s not, to be honest, that it truly lacked for one before. Pringle has been going since 1815 and is renowned for its way with argyle patterns and cable-knit twinsets. Yet the challenge is how to update that past so it looks like the company has a meaningful future, which also entails not being afraid to embrace what went before. What made Carr’s presentation look so refreshing was that rather than trying to offer a lot of runway drama, he simply took pleasure in showing looks built around the beautiful sweaters the company has been making for nearly two centuries—only rigorously modernized.
Carr opened the show with a simple but striking statement, a palette cleanser that signaled it’s all about change at Pringle: a gray crewneck sweater with multicolored intarsia bands and a pair of clean, no-fuss gray pants. He then proceeded to work his way through all manner of knit dressing with shimmering jacquard knits, some with cable configurations and caviar beading, and a particularly pretty white lace-effect stitch used for sixties-tinged A-line dresses adorned with graphic bands of black. The one quibble would be that, every now and again, the specter of his previous employer appeared in some of the more conceptual folding and draping moments, but he’d quickly reassert himself and get right back to showing what he can do with the humble sweater.