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| Spring 2013 Oscar de la Renta Red latex tank navy wool silk twill blazer, ivory wool silk twill pencil skirt (All photos: Vogue.com) |
Remember that now famous line in “When Harry Met Sally”, “I’ll have what she’s having”!? Well, with regards to Oscar de la Renta, all I would do is change the ‘she’ to ‘he’. Talk about finding the Fountain of Youth! Oscar not only doesn’t seem to age physically; his youthful joyfulness, enthusiasm, and verve, continue to be apparent in his work. As is his obvious love for women –you can count on ODLR to make them look chic, beautiful, and elegant.
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| Shocking pink silk faille ostrich feather embroidered peplum bustier, shocking pink silk faille cocktail shorts |
The most recent recipient of the Couture Council of the Museum of FIT’s “Artistry in Fashion Award” presented spring 2013 at two back-to-back, fast paced, and upbeat runway shows, last evening using his 26th floor 42nd Street headquarters with dramatic views facing south over the city. It was a testament to his love affair with fashion design, and his desire to keep learning and honing his craft. Subjects he touched upon when he gave his speech at last Wednesday’s award luncheon at Lincoln Center.
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| Black & white vory striped double face duchess satin gown with bow drape |
There was amazing variety (in terms of proportion, length, silhouette, mood, fabrication, and color) within the 60 pieces shown (a large show by any comparison), and it was all vintage Oscar, and I don’t mean dusty and old: he honed in on his signatures, but tweaked them ever so slightly. There was strong color, but there were also whisper soft pastels, navy, white, black, and of course, graphic combinations of black & white. There was lean and there was voluminous; strict tailleur in the form of rigorously tailored pantsuits, along with frothy flights of fancy; demure knee length dresses as well as saucy cocktail shorts; relatively simplified double face wool crepe and chiffon evening gowns, alongside highly ornamental entrance makers.
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| White silk faille & ornament tassel embroidered dress with contrast black silk faille back |
It was very couture like in mood, execution, technique, and details, and highly textural and tactile, owing to interesting fabrics and fabric mixes that included Chantilly lace, Guipure lace, patchwork, scribble thread work, ornamental cloque, beads, floral embroidery, textured linen, ornamental tassel embroidery, lame mousseline, embroidered tulle, silk crinkle knit, silk faille, and striated yarn tweed. And just when you thought you knew pretty much what you would see at an Oscar de la Renta show, you are surprised. Who would have guessed that latex would be used in conjunction with wool, macrame, silk faille, or ribbon tweed, for example?
By the way, is it me, or are the models getting taller? Maybe it was their towering heels, or their chic and dramatic hairdos (courtesy Orlando Pita), but I could not help but notice just how tall the models seemed to look last night as they walked down the runway.
The ‘Jewel’ of India
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| Spring 2013 Vera Wang Gold embroidered lace cut away sleeveless jacket & white Indian brocade tulip skirt |
Vera Wang’s 39 piece spring collection, which was presented at The Theatre Tuesday morning, was more colorful and included more embellishments (specifically gold: embroidery, jewels, hammered gold bullion, gold lace) than what one would normally expect from the designer (her signature color is mousey gray, after all). Which is not surprising because the show was dubbed, Out of India, and she was was inspired by the romantic beauty and sensuality of India.
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| White cotton canvas cut away jacket and white cotton voile dancing skirt |
I know Diana Vreeland once proclaimed, “Pink is the navy blue of India”, but alas, there was no pink in sight. Instead, there was a lot of white on white, (which opened the show), azure, navy, amethyst, cypress green, chartreuse, and gold.The emphasis was on the “simple strictness of jackets, tunics, and sheaths”; and Vera played with texture, prints, proportion, and volumes, both fluid and structured. And of course, there was layering, which is always a Vera Wang signature. ‘Dancing’ and ‘tulip’ skirts were used throughout, as well long pajama pants, and bermudas (some more fitted than others).
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| Cypress green chantilly hand pieced lace sheath with gold jeweled waist |
There were cut away sleeveless jackets; cropped vests; tanks, t-shirts, shells (hardly your average Hanes, mind you as they were lavished in gold); and sheath dresses (many of which had jeweled waists). Speaking of which, jewels were used in unexpected ways. In addition to jeweled waists, there were jeweled pockets, jeweled necklines, and jeweled epaulettes. Fabrics, both sturdy and soft, included cotton canvas, cotton voile, Indian damask, damask faille, silk chiffon, organza, Indian brocade and lace, both guipure and chantilly, and they were effectively used together, creating a play of textures. Actually, it was the lace pieces, especially those done in cypress green, were standouts.
-Marilyn Kirschner
THE DAILY BET -by Rhonda Erb
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