“How can we push our fabrics even further? This is the mission that Adam Lippes has set himself for the fall. He has always prioritized luxury textiles, but during a showroom appointment earlier this week he unveiled the names of Europe’s top factories, an IYKYK list that included Taroni for a dress in hand-pleated coral silk, Luigi Verga for a trouser suit in printed silk wool, and cashmere makers from the small family business Filati Biagioli. This cashmere is a good starting point. It’s not the quick-pilling stuff you see in stores on Broadway, but a chunky, noble yarn, knitted in a three-dimensional basket stitch. Sweaters, vests and short skirts made from this material are finished with Swarovski pearls, embellishments befitting the treasures they are.

Lippes also adds to its range at the other end of the spectrum. In December, he launched Franger, a refined athleisure collection, and the turtlenecks used as layering pieces here under pieces like a crisp white cotton shirt and an ankle-length floral-print dress are taken from that line. Redefining casual for a post-pandemic world is one of the emerging themes of the season. Lippes’ take on the look includes slightly oversized camp shirts with matching bralettes – the twinset, reimagined – which he paired with either banded wrap skirts or wide leg pants. Although he’s best known for his dressier dishes, he cuts sleek pants.

About those dresses. For the Lippes customer who already has a dressing room, he imagined new proportions. A blush silk dress with long sleeves and taped seams softly belted with a ribbon had a subtle, understated elegance, as did a blue dress in the same silk whose collar was adorned with one of those Swarovski pearls. An embroidered strap dress had a more familiar silhouette, but with a special detail in the form of Chantilly lace lining. “Nobody does lines of Chantilly lace dresses,” laughed Lippes. “Who do this ?” He does.