Fashion
Palmer Harding Pre-Fall 2023
It’s been a year of highs for Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding. Last month, the American British design duo collected a Career Achievement Award from Fashion Group International in Dallas, while former First Lady Michelle Obama, a longtime customer, wore their designs for her “Light We Carry” book tour earlier this year.
The designers channeled that positive energy into a collection filled with their signature shirt fabrics, breezy silhouettes — and a flurry of pleats, pintucks and buttons. The duo said they were going for “simplicity and serenity” against a backdrop of chaos in the outside world.
They conjured the calm with caftan dresses, maxi lengths and roomy pajama suits, sharpened up with fine tailoring and accessorized with high-tops, platform clogs and wooly socks.
One long white dress had clerical rigor with buttons running straight up to a dog collar, while a striped maxi style had a pintuck waist and dramatic open collar revealing the neck and shoulders.
An elegant striped pyjama suit came with a belted shacket and statement lapels, while a denim one matched ultra-wide leg trousers with a button-front peplum top.
Knits were just as shapely. Palmer and Harding paired a peplum pintuck knit top with culottes, and a draped wooly dress with a cutout front, with wooly socks.
The styling was unexpected and fun: The duo teamed a Talitha Getty-style caftan with chunky high-top sneakers, while cotton suits were worn with wooly socks and clogs, all in the name of comfort and joy.
