Few designers carry the mantle of a more specific archival aesthetic than Veronica Etro, and progression can prove challenging. For spring, Etro forged ahead beautifully, with a lineup signature in its surface intricacy yet that still departed from the expected.

Etro said bye-bye (for now) to the obvious paisley, and instead integrated it into selections from a flower bower of 19th-century patterns, often in the beigey-light brown range suggestive of tender aging. Throughout, there was a nostalgic aura in play; Etro took cues from early 20th-century techniques – lace and ribbon work, ruching, haberdashery details – ntegrating them in countless ways. Ribbon bands secured the waist of a dress and…