Bohemian Elegance: Etro for Spring / Summer 2015

Italian luxury fashion house Etro has long been synonymous with handmade couture, with creative director Veronica Etro preferring the free aesthetic born of the inconsistencies of handicraft to the precision of machine-made garments. Of her Spring / Summer 2015 collection, Etro is reported to have said that she did not want pieces to feel “too stiff” or brand new.

Etro’s collection for Spring / Summer 2015 was all about freedom: pieces were loose, worn and frayed around the edges, calling to mind festival days of the nineteen-sixties and seventies. Flowing silhouettes formed from the multi-layering of light fabrics created a bohemian elegance also apparent in loose, centre-parted hair and minimal make up, whilst adornment with beads and feathers added a sense of tribal decadence.

Knee-high suede boots decorated with criss-cross stitching carried the collection from the festival fields to the desert, and the show notes stated that the Etro woman “rises this season from the sand and heat of the desert like an opulent mirage”. Here too, was a nod to the Native American influences: large, bright feathers worn as earrings, and Navajo echoes both in the beaded jewelry and weaving patterns.

Long-time Etro staple pattern paisley made an appearance delicately arranged on handkerchief hem dresses which formed the mainstay of the collection, and this particular paisley reminded us that Etro has always been that little bit bohemian.