When it comes to chic travel attire, the most important element seems to be fabric, as in stretchy, steamable and soft. “Jersey is, of course, a dream for me,” says Diane von Furstenberg. While Pilati and Elbaz have combined the travel-appropriate and packable qualities into the same pieces, there’s often an obvious difference between the two, with von Furstenberg’s sexy wrap dresses falling decidedly into the latter category. “[Jersey] takes up no room and does not wrinkle,” she remarks. “The key is to visualize all the days of your trip and create the proper outfits.”
And to be open-minded. Despite its antichic reputation, some designers are embracing polyester as the perfect fabric for the girl on the go. (It doesn’t hurt that more than half of the garments in Elbaz’s spectacular spring collection for Lanvin were made of polyester.) The material was also the inspiration behind Udo Edling’s fall collection, featuring polyester crepe pants and jackets—a look he boldly calls an updated take on the classic Saint Laurent tuxedo—and washable polyester-blend dresses, some of which come with their own matching pouches, the better for throwing into the bottom of a suitcase. Edling tailors his suits traditionally but lines them with Coolmax fibers, a wicking component found in activewear. “The lightweight fabrics can still be used to make a piece look classic, and it won’t need to be pressed,” Edling says. An added benefit? “If you get tossed into a pool on your vacation, these types of clothes will dry well too.”
Though it wouldn’t fare as well underwater, cashmere is another travel-ready option, both for long flights and small suitcases. Barbara Warren, creative director of White + Warren, says the hoodies and pants—the company’s own version of the sweatsuit—are doing a brisk business, and she can barely keep its new cashmere ballet flats in stock. “[My business partner and I] do a lot of traveling overseas, and you’re in these hotels, padding around in slippers that aren’t your own,” she says, noting that White + Warren’s current best-seller is the First Class Travel Wrap, a wispy blanket that makes those airplane blankies feel like swaths of sandpaper. Of the dual plane- and suitcase-ready styles, she adds, “Women need an alternative to tracksuits and uncomfortable shoes. Cashmere is lightweight, so it makes packing easier too.”
Meanwhile, Angel Chang, a New York designer who incorporates technology into her sportswear (for example, dresses made with heat-sensitive dyes that change color), discovered that combining fabrics—a polyester-viscose blend or a very light cashmere-wool combination—is the trick to creating comfy travel pieces that don’t scrimp on style. “There’s no reason performance-apparel qualities can’t go into luxury clothes,” Chang says. She designed her fall collection around the idea of travel, be it a three-day business trip or weekend excursion, after accompanying her boyfriend, who works in the art world, to biennials across Europe—where, for event after event, she found herself donning the same dress. “It was really hard to find pieces that weren’t wrinkly and that you could mix and match,” she recalls. It’s a conundrum that Elbaz, like his counterparts, is determined to solve. “If you travel, if you eat in a restaurant, if you have 14 hours of work in an office, it’s all equal issues about what to wear for those situations,” the designer says. “And finally, we are making clothes for the woman who does it all.”
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