The original Ports 1961 focus was all about travel. “I dream of having breakfast in the Sahara and dinner in New York,” its founder, Canadian entrepreneur Luke Tanabe, is often quoted as saying.
As the brand marks its 65th anniversary this year, design director Francesco Bertolini sought to bring that nomadic spirit back to the fore. He did so rather conceptually for fall, landing on two fairly different fashion statements.
The first drew from the wardrobes of travel-by-profession aviators and military people. In theory, it sounded like a smart link, but in fashion terms it came across as farfetched.
Many of the utilitarian tropes — felted wools; military-inspired sturdy outerwear, including a round-shouldered, army green caban with toggles; granny argyle sweaters in offbeat color combinations, and aviator jumpsuits in tailoring fabrics — lacked the soft-spoken edge one has come to expect from the designer, who leaned instead toward off-kilter chic.
As he walked through the presentation venue — staged to resemble an airport hall, complete with flight information screens listing some of the cities and years that Ports 1961 opened stores — Bertolini shared a second nuance to his travel-themed collection.
“Traveling is also a mindset, I like to think of the Ports 1961 customer as a mental nomad,” he said.
Fluid pants with a bias-cut overskirt, recalling jackets knotted at the waist while dashing through airport lounges, were paired with a voluptuous knit; a sophisticated handkerchief top secured by a hammered metal brooch — the kind of last-minute solution from an impromptu theater night — came styled with leather opera gloves; a terrific double cashmere coat with built-in wraparound scarf suggested New York-appropriate gear in the middle of a snowstorm.
Uber chic pieces, wondrous in their apparent simplicity, they proved Bertolini is at his most assured when leaning into instinct and gestures.