It’s not even a contention that formal dress has been severely upended in recent times by the pandemic. With the new ways of living and working, fashion made for a post-pandemic world would necessarily integrate that on-and-off quality of being simultaneously comfortable and yet refined (enough) for a fancy dining room. Along comes this season’s offering by Tod’s T-Chain bag, which cleverly balances its long-standing virtues of craftsmanship with a touch of virtual experimentation through the lens of an ingénue. In its collaboration with Catalan-based photographer and art director Carlota Guerrero, Tod’s has tapped into a rich seam of relaxed, urbane taste – perfect for the here and now.
Its Spring-Summer 2022 collection offers a balance of sartorial design and the finest leathers, through a range of short trench coats, jackets with masculine imprints, lightweight parkas, perfect-cut windbreakers and bikers with rubber gommino patches. All these elements are artfully combined for a sense of lightness, willing its wearer to discard the heaviness of years past and to anticipate better things on the horizon.
Within its accessories range, the same design codes of nonchalance inflected by a stylish, crafted character suffuse its range of footwear, as well as the vividly coloured T-Chain bag – made available in hues of sapphire blue and tangerine orange, to red and animal print. In a quirky video campaign, Tod’s showcases how the bag – now equipped with a chain shoulder strap – is elevated to another realm of blithe unconcern through the short story of a mischievous magpie who makes off with a fortune teller’s T-Chain Bag, gleefully celebrating her success before getting her comeuppance by being turned into a frog. Leaving out the supernatural twist, what comes to the fore is the wholly joyful movement of an ideally sized bag which doesn’t force any edits to your existing contents but rather complements your day-to-night transition with natural flair.
