Faced with a madding crowd of debuts this season, Carven director of design Mark Howard Thomas felt the fashion set might want a breather — at the brand’s historic home on the Champs-Elysées, where he staged his runway debut.

Nods to interiors and clothes worn in the intimate sphere abounded in his sophomore collection, perpetuating the leitmotif of building a house into a home. There was even a detachable ruffled basque on jackets and coats that Thomas compared in jest to a pelmet during a preview. It was applied to attractive sporty iterations on the Esperanto jacket, an archival design brought back to life last season.

Dresses and tops with graphic folds and eyelet edges were reminiscent of heirloom napkins. Crisp poplin shirts and silk blouses were given an undone quality by lingerie

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