Fashion critics often approach collections the way a graduate thesis adviser might: Does the designer’s overall statement hold together? Does the designer develop his or her stated themes? But even acid-penned fashion writers are, like the rest of humanity, perpetually in search of a collection they’d like to wear. The perfect black peacoat. A just-slouchy-enough denim dress. A maillot that doesn’t look like it’s made for a sixth grader. Tomas Maier’s new resort collection ticks all those boxes, plus enough pieces that are on the comfortable side of daring, like a double-breasted red suit or an apron dress in crisp leather. As The Wall Street Journal’s Meenal Mistry recently noted on Instagram, even Maier’s sewn-in label is a masterpiece of minimalist design.
Everything is coming up roses for Maier right now. The Bottega Veneta designer’s namesake line recently received an injection of cash from Bottega’s parent company, Kering (which also owns Balenciaga and Gucci). The investment has allowed him to add new categories like shoes and leather goods for resort. He’ll also unveil a New York store in the fall; currently, the German-born designer has brick-and-mortar locations in Palm Beach and the Hamptons. Selfishly, we hope that these big developments for Maier mean there’ll be more of his clothes to go around. We can’t be the only ones making our list and checking it twice.
