I think of Vollbracht in terms of casual clothes, cartoons and other lightweight ideas. I do not think of him in terms of couture or what is called “better ready to wear.” I certainly don’t think of him in terms of Blass or other makers of expensive clothes. It is possible that he has learned to cope with this new branch of fashion.. He has the charm that was part of the Blass mystique, but I still think of him as an illustrator. Well, Mainbocher started his design career as an illustrator, and Blass was very good at fashion illustration — probably could have made a career of it, if he hadn’t gone into design. So I wish Vollbracht well and am looking forward to his first collection.
