Anna Teurnell is a busy woman who is caring for her family and heading her own brand while simultaneously artistic directing Filippa K. She doesn’t have hours to spend getting dressed and cares little for things that are decorative. As the designer said on a call: “I have to be very functional all the time.” This fall line up underlined Teurnell’s talent for making clothes that simultaneously work hard and look smashing.
Things got off to a strong start with a trench coat and rave trousers, both in cavalry twill. The trousers will be familiar to TS fans; Teurnell doesn’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel every four months, rather she updates existing designs while adding some new pieces and accessories. Among the latter this season were color-blocked Chelsea boots, mid-heeled loafers that go beyond grannyland into the realm of hyper cool, and a “bijoux” shearling hat, created in response to cold Stockholm winters. “This collection,” said Teurnell, “was so much about me and how I live my life. It’s about commuting, managing a busy life… I walk the dogs, I go to work, I go to a restaurant…” To combat the cold, the designer tucks her pants into her boots; that gesture was incorporated into the styling of the lookbook where a scarf-tied dress worn with pants-in-boots took on a sort of Cossack vibe. New for the season were sporty nylon separates that reference Teurnell’s preferred kit for dog walking. Then there were neat little sets, one in a dense wool with a slit skirt and a straight top that reappeared in a merlot-colored crepe with matching cigarette-slim pants with a kick flare.
Cult ’00s model Laura Delicata brought the collection to life in a way that was, the designer said, at once powerful and vulnerable. See: an oversized coat with a high collar and asymmetric snap closure with a little hat that almost gives the look of a toy soldier. In a nicely tailored pinstripe pant suit she tried corpcore on for size. Perhaps the most symbolic look in the collection was the penultimate, which combined many-pocketed cargo trousers with a double-breasted cocoon coat that whispered of old-time Parisian elegance. We’re at a point in time where we need to be strong in the face of uncertainty and change, which simultaneously has us craving cosseting. Teurnell delivered the latter in the form of the warm embrace of a capacious coat.