When lensman Franco Rubartelli photographed his then girlfriend Veruschka in a lace-up Yves Saint Laurent safari jacket in 1968, who knew it would be the shot heard (or rather, seen) around the world? Almost four decades later, the image is still a classicthe flaxen-haired model displaying a rifle, hat and seductive stance—and her rugged-chic look, simply iconic. For the resort collections, designers mined that style yet again, with everyone from Thakoon Panichgul to Proenza Schouler’s Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough working the Blixen-babe motif. “There’s fascinating magic in the African atmosphere,” say Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in a joint e-mail, referring to its staying power.
Of course, expeditions nowadays probably skew more concrete jungle than wild Kenyan terrain, and designers, thankfully, have kept that in mind. Thus, Dolce & Gabbana, no strangers to the theme, served it up with a soupçon of city sportifeasy tank tops, nylon parkas and cuffed shorts, all chicly outfitted with multiple cargo pockets. Stefano Pilati, for his part, turned the Saint Laurent house classic into a pretty cinched dress, swapping the lace-ups for a wide corselet belt, while Michael Kors channeled a jetset Veruschka-gone-to-Marrakesh. (His girl is trading in that gun for a pair of shades and a cocktail.) And then there’s Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, who, though inspired by Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, managed to keep his safari references to a clean minimum. Instead, he chose to focus on the element of contrast in her various ensembles. “Her early 1900s wardrobe consisted of masculine linen jackets and trousers mixed with feminine blouses and skirts,” Tisci notes. “It brought together a great balance between the masculine and feminine.” The sole overt nod to his muse in his lineup: an oversize elephant graphic on a cotton T-shirt.
