PARIS, October 4, 2002 – Runway collections do many things: showcase intellectual experiments, play out designers’ obsessions, display ideas for photographs—sometimes even present clothes that women might wear. The last on the list is, curiously, the rarest sighting of all. But Michael Kors certainly hasn’t forgotten it at Celine. He turned in a spring collection that could actually come under the heading of true ready-to-wear—in the way an average person might understand it.

Kors brought a splash of ethnic color and handwork from India, added a sprinkling of the ’60s, a soupçon of military, and rooted it all in uncomplicated clothing. You want something to get about town in? You’re—dare we mention it—going to work? And you’re taking a holiday at some point? In his methodical American way, Kors checked off all the boxes for spring and summer, lending just enough trend to keep the clothes current.

It was a tricky feat, and he handled it by choosing a vibrant palette of hot pink and orange against white, green and spice colors. Indian-influenced materials brought in shine and luxury via silver-embroidered duchesse satin, made into coats, pencil skirts and skinny pants. He toned it down for citywear, using floppy crinkled cotton for light trenches and little jackets and studded suede for slim skirts. Kors went on a bit too long with the swim and psychedelic-print beach pieces, but the collection was a statement of commerciality so unusual as to seem almost…brave.

– Sarah Mower