The Paris Olympics are right around the corner, and Mira Mikati is carrying that spirit into fall with her own twist.
“Where I used to be into checks, now I’m into stripes,” the designer said during a preview, showing a low-slung tennis skirt not in white but gray, double layered with a new accessory: striped jersey underwear. “If the waist is lower, you have to have something underneath,” she noted by way of explanation. “It gives you more room to play.”
Rainbow stripes was the baseline throughout this collection, whether on underthings or outerwear. Long and short coats flaunted Bayadères borrowed from the South of France, but they’ll be just at home in Palm Springs. A rainbow polo dress looked easy, although knit belts-slash-bandeaux offered another way to bring a splash of color to wardrobe staples—a new avenue to promote clothing’s longevity, the designer said.
Elsewhere, Mikati played the transparency card with fluid mesh pajamas for evening and dresses with diamond cutouts intended to work as layering elements or beach cover-ups, depending on the occasion. Her signature wit was well in evidence, for example in a “Chill” knit with a little red and yellow pill in lieu of the letter i. So was her heart, on a rainbow knit with cutout details edged in colorful embroidery, and on a cropped rugby top embroidered with “All You Need Is Love.”
Mikati often gets queries about a runway show, but as her 10th anniversary approaches, she says she’s looking into alternatives. “I’m not into shows; experiences are more me,” she said, adding, “I think people expect more than just a great garment; they want the emotion and lifestyle that goes with it.” Coming from a designer who once clad a bicycle in knit just for fun and still finds herself fielding requests, it’s a safe bet that whatever she ultimately decides to do will come up rainbows.
