The reigning champion of American elegance is Oscar de la Renta and his latest defense of that realm took place Tuesday, Feb. 14, in New York with the presentation of a fall 2012 show that was the epitome of polished, tony panache.
For panache is the key word to describe de la Renta's latter work, so witty and quirky is his take on refinement, so self-confident his experimentation with texture and print.
His latest show, presented in his 25th floor headquarters in midtown Manhattan, showed that even at his advanced age this designer keeps on revamping his oeuvre. The man from the Dominican Republic will be 80 this summer, making him fashion's most venerable designer.
"I suppose for me it's all about making women look beautiful, in beautiful clothes. But you are right that you have got to keep trying new things. Of course, not all of them work, but when they do it's a great pleasure," de la Renta told FWD.
Precious little did not work in this assured display, whose charming core was the combination of applique and embroidery that gave a three-dimensional sheen and glitter to so many great wool crepe dresses and coats. One cashgora double face coat was bestrewn with mini white feathers; one chiffon pleated skirt exploded with rose bijoux. Attention winning, unsuitable for shy retiring violets, they both looked great.
The designer also riffed on several key current trends, like the apres-ski stole for the city, or the new hyper decorated bolero. De la Renta even played around with the tweedy puffer jacket, faintly referencing Montcler, even as he reinvented the genre.
His silhouette was lean at the torso, flaring out above the hips, granting great authority to the models. It's striking how so many of the young women on the catwalk clearly enjoy wearing Oscar de la Renta's clothes. They may all slip back into black jeans when they leave the backstage, but while wearing his fashion you can see they love the charm and class and subtle sass.
Heading into evening, as the sky grew black outside, he ramped up the color and proportions, wowing with a sculptural multi-ribbed pleated pink taffeta dress, wittily echoing the pale pink and rose hues that The Empire State Building adopted in homage to St. Valentine's Day.
That romance continued to the finale, with a trio of twirling tulle cloud dresses - the finest in faded rose - all proudly worn by the cast, all eliciting the sort of knowing nods and smiles that senior editors adopt when in the presence of a truly accomplished collection and show. This event was both.
There are no comments yet