The opposing ideas of “natural and artificial” were the starting points for Thakoon Panichgul’s resort collection. And there’s nothing more natural than a crisp white shirt, which the designer cleverly riffed on with the perfect poplin shirtdress, a pretty take on a men’s Cuban shirt in point d’esprit and pinstripe silk pants with a shirttail detail at the waist. As for the artificial, it came by giving natural fabrics interesting textures, like woven raffia coated with a gummy treatment on a rounded coat, and a silk gazar shirt with a deconstructed basket-weave motif.
Prints and patterns were geometric yet soft — not at all in-your-face. Even the most graphic look, a nifty trapeze top done in vertical panels of ivory silk and black leather, had a sporty elegance. Rendered in a basic palette of white, ivory, navy and black, Panichgul infused the collection with a freshness and ease that grounded his more conceptual work, such as generous side cuts and layered effects, in a cool reality.
