Fall 2016 Ready-to-Wear

Women like Raquel Allegra are part of the reason that fashion has fallen so hard for California. Allegra, with her Berkeley upbringing, conveys an effortless, enviable cool, equal parts urbane sophistication and bohemian ease. Fall ’16 found the designer riffing on the idea of autumn on the West Coast with a stunner of a palette, her lushest to date. Allegra made her name on sandy neutrals, but—whether you chalk it up to artistic discovery or just her evolving tastes—each of her new collections seems to bring a bit more color.Consider here, her pieced-together pants in kinetic-looking, tie-dyed silk: The front of one leg was yellow, the other was blue, and the back of them purple. Celestial cobalt velvets were deep and multifaceted enough to get lost in—and in a duster, the perfect way to amp up the appeal of your T-shirt and jeans. Dressier touches, too, have multiplied: Here there were cropped herringbone trousers, while one floral print turned up both as separates and a sweet dress. As Allegra explained, she had taken the pattern from a childhood Gunne Sax dress, stripped it of its color, and then painted it abstractly in watercolor. You have to admire a designer who stays true to her roots.