In her 15-year-long career, Mayte Allende has accumulated what you might call a Jedi Master level of fashion wisdom. “There really wasn’t a label I didn’t know about or a collection I didn’t see. I literally looked at everything!” says the former WWD fashion market director with a laugh. She’s putting that fastidious research to good use in her new role as creative director of Bande Noir, a line of elevated basics launching this season at New York Fashion Week. Originally enlisted as a creative consultant after she left her position at WWD in November, Allende quickly used her know-how to build out a vision for the fledgling New York brand, one that toes a delicate line between desirability and affordability. “As a fashion editor, I was a very savvy shopper. Right now I think a lot of people aren’t shopping for designer clothes until they hit the sale rack,” she says. “Outside of that, you’re left with Zara or H&M. I really wanted to explore the middle ground.”
image: Short Prom Gowns
She used the sophisticated minimalism of Romeo Gigli as an inspirational road map
specifically the feminine reworkings of T-shirts and classic shirting that propelled him fame in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In Allende’s hands, those ideas take on a modern, athletic attitude: Think a striped rugby shirt cinched at the waist with a hook-and-eye closure, or a pristine white tee wrapped up in a snug bustier. The label takes its name from an unusual species of butterfly that thrives particularly well in urban areas—fitting when you consider just how well suited these pieces are to city dwellers with an eye for style at an appealing price (much of the collection hovers around the 0 mark). Unpin the eye-catching floral corsages, and even the languid, long-sleeved cocktail dress in the lineup could pull double duty in the boardroom. And if the going-out top is truly the holy grail of a ....... and the City-ready wardrobe, then Allende’s new collection has something for every leading lady, be you a Carrie (flirty, puff-sleeved, and polka-dot) or a Miranda (pleated, peasant-style, and functional). “I road tested one of the off-the-shoulder tops [at] a holiday party and everyone was asking me where I’d found it,” says Allende. “I knew right then that I was on the right track.”
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