Versatile dressing for 24/7 style, with Michael Kors Collection

Designer Michael Kors is renowned for his particularly polished take on urban femininity; since establishing his label in New York in the 1980s, Kors has perfected suiting with fluid silhouettes and breezy dresses that are understated enough for the everyday and yet smart enough for any occasion – the label has become a go-to for the working woman’s wardrobe.

Kors has long been an intuitive designer; before taking the helm at French label Celine, he cut his teeth on the sales floor of a womenswear boutique in Manhattan, learning first-hand exactly what women wanted to wear. Soon, Kors was applying this on-the-ground feedback to his fashion design, and after a chance encounter with a fashion buyer from a luxury department store, Michael Kors – the brand – was born.

And it is Manhattan where Michael Kors is most at home. After his tenure in Paris, he returned to the Big Apple in 2002 – he grew up in Long Island, overlooking New York’s skyline and his entire history, he says, is wrapped up in the city’s streets. It’s no surprise, then, that Kors is ever influenced by the city in his collections, but for SS21, Kors embraced a softer side and was inspired by this new-found sense of stillness. The flora and fauna in New York and its countless gardens was the season’s focus – resilient blooms sprouting up between slabs of concrete, or saturated sunsets that created dramatic skies. This was nature through Kors’ urban lens.

This manifested in easy dresses splashed with botanical prints or in verdant green hues reminiscent of Central Park, that were as suitable to wear with sneakers for pounding the pavements as a sunny afternoon spent seaside with strappy sandals. Shirting, once a mainstay of the office, loosened up too to reflect this al fresco mood; crisp striped button-ups were turned into midi-length dresses with architectural sleeves that were unbuttoned to the thigh to give movement and a sense of freedom — simply button-up to for a more work-appropriate look.

As a designer, Michael Kors is both pragmatist and poet, creating clothing that is at once artful and yet grounded in an everyday reality that ensures maximum wardrobe mileage and ease of wear. Such versatile pieces are guaranteed to be trusted additions to your new-season wardrobe for years to come.