Lisa Perry just wants to make people happy. Whether it’s her children’s wear, a category that Perry explained does very well at Barneys, her expanding tabletop business or her latest spring collection, Perry aims to make her customers smile. Take the centerpiece of the lineup, a black floor-length dress with large, cascading felt “flirty print” flowers in an array of bright colors. The dress was one of the very first Perry designed — for herself — but after years of attending events in the gown, with people asking Perry to design it to sell, she did exactly that. The motif, inspired by a painting Perry had seen 10 years earlier by the French Nouveau Realist artist Martial Raysse, added a lively spirit to the collection, adorning the side seams of a pair of jeans, the back of a denim jacket, a shorter version of the dress and in place of her iconic circle pockets on a long-sleeve dress. Halston’s work in the Seventies was the influence behind Perry’s fly-away pieces, like a floor-length tunic with a middle slit up to the abdomen paired with trousers or a roomy sky blue dress; these flattering silhouettes, much like her A-line dresses, are ones that her customer loves season after season.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Perry proclaimed of the collection, which also included timeless cashmere knits, tailored coats and her iconic white jacket. Even though they’re her signatures, they didn’t feel monotonous.