After a three-year absence, Nehera returned to Paris and the runway. Ladislav Zdút found things relatively the same. “I just remember at the beginning of the pandemic [the idea] that we should slow down, but everything is back with a higher pace,” he said on a call. Still, this Bratislava designer resists fashion’s treadmill by staying in his lane, keeping focused, and not following trends. Nehera is a good place to find minimal tailoring and well-designed, quietly chic separates. The wow factor in this collection was a pointed shoulder construction.
Paring back is a brand m.o., and this season the team tasked themselves with not only conjuring a minimal aesthetic, but simplifying patterns and production as well. The dresses that looked like they had a floating panel in back were made with two rectangles of fabric sewn together with minimal intervention, for example. Other pieces featured deliberately raw edges or exposed seams that revealed their streamlined construction: they also reminded us of all the work that goes into the making of a single garment. This read as an honest gesture and complemented the functional air of tone-blocked workwear-influenced pieces. Pants that can be adjusted to be worn up to two sizes larger or smaller will give the customer a hand in creating the proportions they prefer.
In keeping with the concept of eliminating excess, the palette was extremely muted and the styling, always a highlight of Nehera lookbooks, was pared back. The combined result made the collection look flat rather than vibrant. On the bright side, showing that the clothes can be worn by men and women alike provided a new perspective on the versatility of Nehera’s considered designs.
