Tibi Spring 2027: Where’s Dolly?

At first thought, Dolly Parton and Tibi couldn't be more different.

One was a glitzed-out, cinched-in icon and the other is a brand rooted in that overly used fashion term: "wardrobing."

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But that's precisely why founder Amy Smilovic headed down to Nashville in Parton's home state of Tennessee, well before the musician's unfortunate passing last month. Rather than look back on Tibi's 30-year history, Smilovic wanted to celebrate the milestone by, as she put it backstage, "getting out of our heads."

She chose to reference Parton "because she doesn't give a s–t," Smilovic said. "Dolly knew who she was. I would never want to see her in a navy suit, even though I love navy suits."

Indeed, there were two on the runway Saturday, three if you count a raw Canadian tuxedo. With their boxy proportions and quotidian implications, they — again — couldn't have read less Parton.

What Smilovic took from the country legend was her confidence in being exactly who she was. Reading those three looks with that in mind, suddenly Parton inches closer to the narrative because there's absolutely no pretense in a navy suit.

There were more clear traces of Parton in the grommet-studded Western yolks, gingham shirts, and she may have even gotten a kick out of a pencil skirt with tiers of beaded tassels. These bits of flash livened up an otherwise muted show, leaving one with the sense that Smilovic never quite got out of her head as much as she could have.

A hand-sketched silk print was a fun, albeit out-of-place, addition. Featuring irises (Tennessee's state flower), vintage automobiles, guitar players and cowboy boots, "it's a bit of an homage to what really kicked off my brand when I started it in 1997," Smilovic said.

She recounted the story of how legendary photographer Bill Cunningham did a full-page story exclusively of her scarf printed skirts once in The New York Times. "He didn't even know they were all from one designer," she joked.

Judging from the ear-shattering applause that erupted when Smilovic took her bow, we'll be seeing these on the street sometime soon. Parton crooned "I Will Always Love You," on the soundtrack and it seems like Tibi fans always will.

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