A week ago, Vera Wang posted a sneak peek of her new collection on Instagram. In the trio of photos, she models a black satin crepe sash top in bonded silk and a matching mini with a long bow sash at the hem. Although she has made a name for herself designing lavish wedding gowns – Vanessa Hudgens is her latest sassy bride – her own tastes are more secretive.
These clothes are proof of that. A cardigan dress, for example, features a sculptural peplum skirt created by fusing lambswool, whalebone and horsehair, a technique she has been working on for several years, so that the elaborate construction doesn’t look or feel heavy. A narrow midi skirt is cut with a double waistband that folds down below the hips to create a sort of sartorial bustle, and the pants feature attached gloves reminiscent of a pair of over-the-knee boots. “I wanted to bring a bit of attitude, modernity and a bit of evolution to evening wear,” she said.
Wang has noticed that the new generation of stars are more “fearless” than their predecessors – more willing to wear a bra on the red carpet, for example, or go braless under a sheer dress. This collection responds to those instincts – it’s no coincidence that she’s releasing it just as awards season is heating up, an awards season that everyone expects to be bolder than usual given the end of the Hollywood strikes that so disrupt such events. have been suspended for a long time.
But this is also a collection shaped by Wang’s own obsessions. The HBO Max show The Gilded Age– she’s a fan – is loosely inspired by a two-tier dress with an illusion mesh corset and clouds of fantastically draped aqua tulle, and a silk faille ball gown with a long lavender tulle train held in place by three-dimensional lamé flowers on the shoulder. And then there’s the palette, which, aside from the pretty pastel tulle, is almost entirely Wang’s preferred black. Although of course she would love to make them in ivory for a bride who requests them.
