While dreaming up her Spring prints and silhouettes, Herrera referenced kinetic art, specifically the fifties and sixties work of Venezuelan artists Carlos Cruz-Diez and Jesús Rafael Soto. She translated the movement's graphic lines into geo-prints, which appeared in chocolate, citrus, and plum on skirts and gowns as well as on their organza overlays. As they swished down the catwalk, Herrera's layered lines produced mesmerizing optical illusions.
“It’s about Kinetic Art,” she explained, “it’s eye-popping! When you layer the fabrics like this, it becomes an entire visual experience," she said. No doubt, it would be tricky to achieve the same effect with classic suiting or separates.
The Carolina Herrera woman has always been a classy, cosmopolitan character. Backstage after her show, the designer said that her Spring femme was active and international, stopping in France one day and South America the next. This spirit shone through in some of the collection's more youthful, sporty wares, like an embellished black dress with meshlike tulle detailing and a boxy, ivory suede frock with strict-but-subtle sheer insets.
Discover Herrera's S/S '14/15 runway show at the end of this post! LoL, Andrea
The result was a collection that played with the optical tricks achieved by layering translucent fabrics either printed or embroidered in swirling line patterns or abstract geometrics over a second layer treated in a similar way, so that the resulting collision of prints gives a sense of depth and ever-changing moire effects.
The show opened with a gala version of this idea that Mrs. Herrera herself might wear a white cotton pique shirt, cropped wide and short over a ball-gown skirt in billowing black organza printed with swirling motifs like sixties string and nail-art pictures, and layered over a similarly patterned white underskirt. The designer covered the chic waterfront with this playful idea, from this maximal effect to minimal fifties-flavored bikini top and bottoms with a ruffled layer, creating that optic dazzle. There was a sixties shift in chalk white crepe scribbled with arcs of parallel black lines, and a jacket that evoked the same period in ivory organza embroidered with strips of self-colored floss thread so that the rust orange dress beneath was only partially revealed.
Carolina Herrera wanted embroideries “that are not so sweet,” and these included hexagon appliqués partially sewn down so that they fluttered in movement, and seemingly randomly placed geometric fabric pieces that (together with the picot-edge finishes) enhanced the “loose over loose” effect, creating a lightness of being and the sense of movement in these clothes.
Wedge or flat espadrilles, a collaboration with a storied Spanish maker, anchored the day looks, and evening necklines were often anchored with dramatic necklaces dripping a metal line studded with colored crystal specimens.
An intriguing palette of plum, celadon, and brick orange enlived the dramatic black and white, and the Op Art tricks were put aside for one beautiful monastic dress of trained ivory crepe cut high in the front to reveal the umber crepe sheath beneath.
In love with these amazing show jewels by Carolina Herrera ....!
Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories
Photo credit/Source: VOGUE
Runway: Photography by Yannis Vlamos / InDigitalimages
Details: Photography by Gianni Pucci / InDigitalimages
More Herrera To Love ...
'“Prints, that’s what this collection is all about, prints,” said Carolina Herrera as a preface to her 2014 resort presentation. “And seasonless,” she added, “because there are no real seasons for clothes anymore; in summer somewhere it’s winter, or in winter somewhere it’s summer.'
No comments:
Post a Comment