Abaete: Made for a Haute Weekend

When you have an incredibly chic mother who has looked fabulous since before you were born, for the entirety of your childhood and still manages to inspire you with her savoir-faire today, your fashion sense is bound to be intrinsic.

Laura Poretzky, the designer of the label Abaete, is the progeny of such a woman and her sense of style does indeed seem to be innate.

Her Spring/Summer 2007 collection, inspired from a 1970’s photograph of her flaxen-haired mother in a white, loosely off-the-shoulder Chloe dress, is ultimately geared toward the wardrobe a woman needs to look amazing for a full 4-day spring weekend: day dresses, tunics paired with shorts, bathing suits, cover-ups, cocktail dresses and easy gowns. All of these styled around the transitionary year of 1971.

“1971 was an unusual year fashion-wise,” Poretzky said. “It the year when there was a switch from Mod to Ossie Clark. Shift dresses were still in but there was this whole new Ossie Clark era beginning. It was also the year Edie Sedgwick died.”

In keeping with Clark’s color sense, Poretzky used bright colors like scarlet and electric blue as well as a muted giraffe print that in it of itself somehow suggests a holiday weekend.

While the collection does have an certain luxurious feel, all the pieces are entirely wearable and perfect for quotidian life in the city. Rich details like jewel-sized Swarovski buttons close a shirtdress with tuxedo pleating, a broad strip of bronze, peach and silver sequins to dress up a tunic, tailored satin shorts get tap pant slits to add a sexy boudoir ease and the hemlines of a few dresses get pretty cut-outs that are neither too delicate or too obvious.

And don’t forget the Abaete for Payless shoes, which are once again a brilliant exploit for Poretzky. Like her collection, some of her shoes have floral cutouts along with a structured ease that breeds the same refined style her mother inspired from the start.

* At Rodarte, Artful Obsessions Inspire An Artful Collection * Abaeté: A Coherent Example of '70s Allure		* A Very Betsey Birthday Bash * Martha Davis: Industrial Design Meets Shoes