The drinks and chitchat flowed contentedly at the downtown Portland
Moulé store last Thursday evening, April 30, where Portland
designer Rachel Gorenstein presented the latest from her Rachel Mara
womenswear line. Originating in Canada, the Moulé stores (there
are four) are owned by Gorenstein’s family, many of whom were in
attendance. The place is something of a superstore—a browsers’
paradise of clothing for men and women, as well as gobs of accessories
and clever, esoteric household goods from ashtrays to soaps to coffee
table books.
Peppered throughout the racks are Rachel Mara pieces, holding their
own alongside savvy selections from VPL, Rogan, and Velvet. One of
Gorenstein’s strengths is her ability to appeal to women of widely
varying ages with pieces that manage sexy without sacrificing dignity,
the raciest of which were an open-front tunic and a cropped,
torso-revealing tuxedo jacket that courted but (barely) avoided
tawdriness.
A technical issue that stopped the music early in the show did
nothing to dispel the cheerful mood of the proceedings, which kicked
off with assistant store manager Annapurna Rogers’ rendition of “I Put
a Spell on You.” The outfits were paraded out from behind a
splatter-painted drape, and were primarily sharp, easy-to-wear dresses;
blouses in floating, subtly psychedelic prints; and stovepipe khakis
and denim. A belted romper (everybody’s doing them) elicited quite a
bit of interest from the approving throng, as did an effortless
drop-waist tunic in a purple and orange silk that was the best pattern
of the collection.
The most inventive piece by far was a pair of pants that improbably
married a genie shape with petite cargo pockets. Successful in black
and silver, they made much less sense in a white that was sheer enough
to see the outline of the pocket lining—don’t even consider
underwear. It was a necessary risk that injected novelty into a
collection that aims—and more often succeeds—to please.