No bride walked the runway in Ralph Lauren's latest fashion show, but wedding bells were unmistakably in the air in this snazzy, celebratory and opulent collection. "I've had two kids get married ever since I started working on this show about, well, nine months ago, so I suppose there must have been some influence," chuckled Lauren after his show, staged in a lower Manhattan art gallery on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Lauren's daughter Dylan married hedge fund founder Paul Arrouet in July, while his son David wed Lauren Bush earlier this month.
But these runway nuptials featured wedding goers who began their morning way downtown, as the show opened with a damsel in daffodil print skirt and a mohair cardigan riddled with holes. Topped with a straw cloche hat, the model carried an embroidered straw picnic bag for a look that was daffy but beautiful. Lauren kept things romantic initially, with a whole sherbet-hued section where each outfit was anchored by huge raffia platform wedges.
Then the glamour hit high tempo - high gloss ivory silk cocktails with flapper hats, box-pleated dresses accompanied by ostrich feather capes and brilliant white gabardine jackets with wide lapels. Finished with long thin earrings - a major Manhattan trend - and worn with braided satin shoes with golden heels, it made for a sophisticated statement on the final day of the eight-day New York Fashion Week.
A series of stunning pants suits, in ecru or ivory pinstripe, cut with board shoulders and finished with dress shirts and ties made for a polished Great Gatsby revival that was sleek and sure.
But the summer wedding moment was most apparent in the evening clothes, including a remarkable ivory tulle beaded dress with brilliantly fashioned fabric flowers, rose hammered satin columns and silver plume lame cocktails.
Defiantly pure in its slim silhouette and shiny new colors, and elegantly staged on a white marble catwalk, Lauren's latest collection was the best expression of a key trend in this season of shows - an aching for ladylike grace.
