The resort season is when Amy Smilovic said she leans into Tibi’s brand codes — à la her pragmatic approach to personal style — and turns them up a notch.

As seen in her latest collection, this meant playing with new takes on mainstay nylon layers, most notably through brightly colored poufed peplum “skirts” styled over everything from sporty zip-up jackets to a casual cashmere blend T-shirt to a crinkly plaid button-up. They were a delight of the season, and will certainly amplify a wardrobe’s personality.

The pops of color spoke to Smilovic’s emphasis on utilizing the Tibi Color Wheel (the collection is set to drop alongside the brand’s four-part Color Book compilation) to pair her Ring 3 gray-brown undertone hues — “colors that have names that are really debatable and can’t be described” — contrasted against more well-known shades (both neutral and bold) to create fresh looks.

And after a long, dreary winter, the designer said while she loves big, stiff and modern styles, she was really drawn to cozier options in her eclectic palette, “to be able to go out and curl up.” This meant developing long-sleeve polos in rich piqué, reworking her favorite 2018 draped silk tops into a cozy jersey, refining bonded sweatshirts with sharper, modern silhouettes and crafting cinchable anoraks in flannel. Furthermore, a custom floral silk jacquard will be available not only in a feminine wrapped dress, but also matching track layers. 

But at Tibi, building friction between the hard and soft always comes into play, as seen through a three-buckled belt, while her playful edge resulted in funky wide sandals.

“These shoes were a really good accident — they had started out as a peep toe, but the factory had made them way too wide,” Smilovic said of the footwear, which she found had something delightfully “unsettling” about them.