How's this for an original fashion show theme? Tory Burch says both her parents and her grandparents collected suits of armour when she was a child.
And so she wanted to create a line of clothing inspired by armour, but to make it light enough - in both the actual and atmospheric senses of the word - for women's clothing.
What resulted was an appealing and unified collection, one that reflected her stated theme in virtually every piece, but still felt highly wearable. This was one of those shows where the clothes actually seemed destined for the department store, rather than a theatrical stage or an art museum.
Armour was evoked both in fabrics and in accessories, such as wide metallic belts. A pleated skirt, a foil-embossed leather top, or a boucle skirt all looked like they could have been part of a suit of armour - albeit a fairly chic one.
"We did lots of fabric manipulation, playing with techniques and proportions," Burch said.
Another theme for the collection, which favoured colours such as grey, olive and red, was medieval tapestry. That made for some of the prettiest outfits - like a tapestry knot turtleneck paired with a tapestry print brocade skirt. There was a nice tapestry-covered purse, worn like a winter muff, and the show closed with a tapestry-inspired silk dress.
As for footwear, many of the models wore Burch's version of gillies - a Scottish shoe with laces - with a thicker heel than most runway shoes.
"They're really comfortable," said the designer, who wore a pair herself.
