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The Jewish Chronicle

Make it a white hot summer

Designers return to this particular monochrome every few summers.

July 22, 2010 14:08
Drop-dead simple white dress, now £225 by Andrew Majtenyi , 365 St John Street, EC1 www.andrewmajtenyi.com

ByJan Shure, Jan Shure

2 min read

The perennial desirability of white for high summer — both in practical terms for reflecting light, thus making it cooler than dark shades, and aesthetics (nothing looks quite as fabulous on a hot day as icy white) — means that designers return to this particular monochrome every few summers. They cater for a clientele who are unperturbed by weather and possibly less bothered by the extra laundering that is necessary to keep white looking good. And we are not talking classics here, like a crisp white shirt or white tees, which are the backbone of any summer wardrobe, but statement pieces — the white jacket, the crisp white dress, white trousers paired with a white gypsy top by Norma Kamali, or a draped Vince tank.

American designers have a ready-made constituency of consumers who favour white — think of all those Choo-shod New Yorkers who head to the ritzy Hamptons where white, or bleached chambray, are virtually a summer uniform. So in the US white invariably features strongly and, this season, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Proenza Schouler, Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein were all white hot, with languid sportswear, big shirts, crisp little dresses and stunning draped gowns — a Hilfiger speciality — all in cool white.

Paris, Milan and London also fell under the spell of white mischief, with Hussein Chalayan producing the most consistently desirable collection of directional white pieces. Gucci, Givenchy, Stella McCartney, Chanel, Chloe, Nicole Farhi, Gucci, Yves St Laurent, Preen and Jil Sander all produced directional white pieces, including a sleeveless coat dress in white by Nicole Farhi and a slim-fitting sheath by Jil Sander that would be a summer perennial.

It goes without saying that white should always be pristine. If you don’t want sky-high dry-cleaning bills, buy washable white, and if it needs to look crisp, head to Robert Dyas for a can of spray starch — it is amazing the edge something as simple as starch can give to even Primark white.