”We never had to think in terms of what Perry would like. For some strange reason, we were always on the same wavelength.”
Jed Krascella is talking about the fashion telepathy that he and Patricia Pastor shared with the late Perry Ellis when the trio worked together designing collections of women`s clothing.
Now, the first Perry Ellis-labeled fashions designed solely by Krascella and Pastor are beginning to appear in the stores. They were inspired, say the designers, by the strong, clean lines of Ellis` last collection, which many considered one of his best.
”I don`t remember ever hearing Perry say, `This is my look.` We just sort of went by what we all liked,” says Krascella. What they liked came to be known by fans as simply ”very Perry”–a style with a recognizable lilt, a mood that was sometimes called quirky, sometimes classic, occasionally collegiate.
For example, a melange of three or four different Liberty prints in one outfit was indeed ”very Perry.” A tweedy, burly sweater with a fat cablestich running down the front just off center, or a blue cotton shirt, the cotton as smooth as a silk, with a tuck at the shoulderline and double buttons but no cuff at the wrist, was also typically Ellis.
Now the spring collection captures that spirit. —
