Designer Custo Dalmau was feeling a bit subdued for Spring.
"This collection is about sophistication," said the designer
earlier this week in the basement of his Soho boutique. But
subdued and sophisticated mean something different for the
always vibrant, entirely eclectic Barcelona-based label than
they do for most.  Instead of a collection of beautifully
engineered jacquards and woven raffia haphazardly piled on one
another, Dalmau was content with pairing two or three textures.
The change was good. For instance, a sheer white blouse with
sweet broderie anglaise accents was worn with a pair of long
culottes, the front of which were done in a red and white Aztec
embroidery, the back of which were printed with a black and
white hieroglyphics motif. The outfit was topped off with a red
and white visor. Yes, it was a lot, but it still looked good.
Same went for a shimmering rose-gold blouse embroidered with
neon raffia at the shoulders and worn with a metallic jacquard
skort. On the men's front, a pair of iride