Florals for spring are certainly not a groundbreaking concept — Lela Rose even admitted so during a preview of her latest collection. Nevertheless, the designer tried to give them a fresh perspective, drawing inspiration from botanical photographs by artists Joe Horner and Azuma Makato.
“I went to this guy’s studio in Japan, and oh my god, he’s such a genius,” she said of the latter. “He freezes flowers, sends them up into the sky, and then photographs them. They look kind of blurry, so you’re always trying to figure out what’s happening in this explosion of color.”
Her palette was similarly explosive, consisting of yellow, fuschia, lavender and tangerine. The latter two were used in a pair of guipure lace square-neck tops with matching straight-cut skirts hitting just at the knee. It was a fresh look with a ’90s feel- new for the designer who is prone to minis or maxis. “My eyes are still adjusting to it,” she said.
Rose has been the two-piece dressing concept lately and it stood out as a warp-printed floral circle skirt and crop top in icy blue crepe de chine. She chose this look for the cocktail party cohosted by stylist Kate Young that took place instead of a runway presentation. Models like Pat Cleveland and Joyjah Estrada were present, but they weren’t there to model, per say. They were there to mingle, self-styled in her spring line. “We wanted to set the scene and say you’re playing a part in it,” Rose explained.
Most of them stuck by her ladylike fare, but there were some cooler options here to choose from. The same floral print also came in knitted in jacquard that was so warped it read like leopard, giving a strapless wiggle dress extra va-va-voom, while button-front trench dresses in varying shades of khaki had a surprisingly militaristic feel.
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