Sleeve it out: we’ve got a vested interest in the latest in layered dressing

Fashion’s answer to weathering winter chills with style this season is the sleeveless over-layer. At Max Mara, creative director Ian Griffiths was keen to put a new spin on the house’s signature camel coat. ‘I wanted to find a way to wear two at once, without cooking yourself. This sleeveless style works perfectly over a neat mannish overcoat, or brilliantly by itself,’ he says of the Italian label’s camel hair and silk version. At Pringle of Scotland, womenswear design director Fran Stringer was inspired by féileadh-mór, the wrapping and draping element of Highland dress, creating an asymmetric cashmere ribbed scarf that twists itself around the body. Margaret Howell, meanwhile, was inspired by playground apparel. A dress by the British designer, worn open, takes its form from school pinafores. And Italian brand Brunello Cucinelli riffed on the concept of the female explorer, creating a soft, sleeveless trench coat, in a classic city shape, that is completely water repellent.

As originally featured in the December 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*225)