Chiara Boni La Petite Robe Spring 2016

 For her spring 2016 collection creative designer Chiara Boni paid homage to the fairy gardens of her Florentine childhood. The reference to the 92 days of spring evidenced in the ripe flora of lush Florentine gardens were also accompanied by the song “92 days” composed by Yakamoto Kotzuga. Kotzuga detailed that his music for the collection is “inspired by the suggestions and the images coming from Chiara Boni ideas: dreamlike, refined, almost fairy atmospheres, which follow the sinuous shapes of the feminine body without losing sight of the electronic, contemporary mood.”

As a brand since 20017 Chiara Boni Le Petite Robe has set a standard for designing the cosmopolitan women using their signature jersey fabric. And though the collection often harken back to the well-known silhouettes of the 1950s—imagine Sophia Loren in feminine-form enhancing silhouettes or the saucy sirens in a Fellini movie—overall the collections still possess a design currency that works for the modern woman.

The color palette in this spring 2016 outing ranged from rose to raspberry and peach to oriental blossom prints. Chiara Boni throughout the collection managed to capture the essence of floral fairy gardens in garments that contained rosettes, floral embellishments with soft asymmetrical peplums and puffed sleeves. And though there were some whimsical, ethereal looks in the collection, the signature aesthetic of this outing was buttressed by classic silhouettes that showed off the feminine form.

Chiara Boni also added in several elegant one-piece swimsuits under fluid long dresses and cover-ups, as well as slim slacks and jumpsuits. That said; while most of the collection focused on looks that gave a hint of whimsical floral beauty in color palettes that ranged from peach to raspberry, the real standout looks in the collection actually had more impact in white and black geometric graphic patterns.

Standout looks in the collection were Chiara Boni’s illusion rose dress, one-piece swimsuit and Tippi print illusion cover up, palazzo pant and Bey top, and Maxime print with matching top.

—William S. Gooch