Wes Gordon Resort 2015

Review by Lauren Sherman
Many designers are inspired by the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, but few nail her style as precisely as Wes Gordon does. Really, it's easy to imagine Bessette-Kennedy as one of his clients. "I'm always thinking about that idea of American fashion," said the designer in his studio on Monday afternoon, just hours before attending the CFDA Awards, where he was a runner-up for the Swarovski Award for Womenswear. "Chic is such an overused word, but it really is an easy chic: not stuffy."

Gordon says his muse is most definitely a woman—not a girl. "She doesn't look like she's borrowing clothes," he said. For Resort, the designer's goal was to incorporate a casual feeling into the "precious ingredients" that make up his ready-to-wear. There was a slouch to the looks. Tops either hung loose or hit just below the waist so that there was nothing to tuck in. An open-weave wool mélange shirt in a soft periwinkle blue, styled over a striped lace pencil skirt, was a fancy take on chambray, and a white slip tank, paired with a mid-calf crossover skirt in a lightweight chevron suiting, was reminiscent of the nineties supermodels Gordon worships. The designer once again worked with Manolo Blahnik on shoes, this time introducing a slipper flat that added another element of cool.

A series of white crepe pieces—particularly a mid-calf dress with a curved hem—stood out for their simplicity. A pair of white, wide-leg trousers was a bit more complicated, with a V-insert of blue fabric running down the center of the pants from the waist all the way past the knee. A woman with a certain confidence could most certainly pull them off. What was great about the rest of the collection, though, was that any woman would feel confident in it. Or, as Gordon would say, at ease.