Dress the Population

A wardrobe of occasion dresses is really a wardrobe of necklines and hemlines, and that is where Dress the Population does its work. The Los Angeles label builds its womenswear on a small set of well-tested shapes — the minidress, the fitted midi, the floor-length column, the wide-leg jumpsuit — then varies them almost entirely through surface: sequin worked allover or set by placement, lace, and plain matte cloth that leaves the cut to speak for itself.

Fit is the quieter half of the proposition. Bodices are seamed and lined with stretch so that a strapless or plunging neckline holds through an evening, and hems run from a short cocktail length through the midi to the floor, depending on how formal the evening has to be. Colour is used boldly, which is what keeps a simple silhouette from reading as plain.