Tory Burch Goes to Pieces for Spring: The designer sent out an alluring collection of mix-and-match elements NYFW

The New York Collections have featured many variations on near-nakedness. Tory Burch took a different approach to showing the body, to alluring effect. As she approached the season, Burch felt competing inclinations: “to experiment freely and to pare everything back.” She also wanted to conjure a bit of the sensibility she’d experienced in the Nineties when she first moved to the city.

Those thoughts manifested into a collection that departed significantly from last season’s more studied approach. Here, Burch’s overarching message was about ease, which she delivered in a mix-and-match medley of airy pieces. She worked with jersey, filmy cotton and airy viscose that followed body contours, and she upped the visibility factor with sheer Ts worn over lace bras. Sometimes, Burch added a straight-cut coat or long jacket in cotton sateen or foiled leather. While the simplicity of the shapes recalled the gentler manifestations of Nineties minimalism, the layering kept things plenty interesting.

A key element: a wide, shirred jersey bandeau worn as a hip wrap over skirts and pants. This created a graphic element in opposition to the prevailing gentleness, separating the body into blocks of color – greens, blues, oranges in concert with neutrals.

This collection had a great deal of prettiness to it, and a great deal of savvy behind it. For many women, leggings and a sports bra are primary daily attire (at least until back-to-the-office mandates kick in for real). So why not make a claim for that business? Burch seized the moment, putting leggings with a number of looks, a smart addition that looked great and will appeal to legions of women refuse to sacrifice comfort for style.