Rosetta Getty Resort 2015

Review by Lauren Sherman
"I'm obsessed by clothes, I always have been," Rosetta Getty explained on Monday morning, her namesake collection on display at a Chelsea studio. Just two seasons in, Getty is still establishing her label's identity: "I want to make clothes that I need in my life, for my lifestyle," she said.

This is not the Los Angeles-based Getty's first foray into the fashion business. The designer, who is married to actor and philanthropist Balthazar Getty, ran her own children's clothing company in the early aughts, and launched the special-occasion label Riser Goodwyn in the later half of that decade (the dresses were mostly worn by her celebrity friends). But this namesake collection is Getty's first go at a complete ready-to-wear line.

For Resort she was inspired by the artist and gallery owner Betty Parsons, who liked very much to wear shorts. So there were Bermudas with inverted pleats that curved slightly toward the knee for a more voluptuous look, done in navy-and-white dobby cloth, emerald linen-wool, and chartreuse cotton. Getty used that pleating style again on a black A-line skirt with a curved hem and on the bottom of a pair of off-white trousers, which were worn with a matching blazer and a tissue-thin sweater tank. The unique pleat made each elegant piece just a little more compelling. Shirting played a big role, too. One button-up's white-on-white grid was inspired by abstract artist Agnes Martin, who was on Parsons' roster. Another—bone-colored, with the sleeves and collar fashioned out of bonded satin—played into Getty's desire to create pieces that don't look absurd "doing drop-off" but can also work beautifully at "some benefit luncheon or cocktail party," said Getty. She used that bonded satin quite a bit—on tunics with apron-like details, collared dresses, and V-neck gowns—to bring together those two worlds. The effort shouldn't go unnoticed. These may be clothes Getty wants to wear, but they are certainly not just for her.