When Victoria Beckham launched her fashion label 10 years ago, she presented the clothes in small settings where she would personally talk about each individual design. She would do this for a few seasons but as her business grew and her confidence in her design abilities became more assured with well-received collections, she moved to a bigger location and adopted the traditional runway format.
But as she marks her first decade in the fashion industry this year beginning with her fall/winter 2018 collection, she opted to return to a more intimate presentation. The venue was the Burden Mansion on 91st street, up an elegant staircase in a room where modern mirrored cube seats were juxtaposed with Gilded Age wood work and marble paneling. It was so intimate in fact, that you could almost touch the models as they walked past you.
What about the clothes?
They were completely modern with a military bent starting with a double layered charcoal coloured belted coat. It was an exemplary vision of volume and minimalism all at once. The belted shape was present through out the collection whether as variations on coats or on trouser suit jackets or as strappings on dresses. Among the standout pieces were an olive coloured trench coat with contrast color lapels and a leopard print coat that is bound for commercial success. There were beautiful dresses too that featured unexpected ray of pleats to the sides including a long ivory dress that was part t-shirt dress, part Madame Gres. The color palette was mostly in grays, camels and olives. The bags were either super-sized as in the slouchy large totes, which the designer said could fit her children, or micro as in the structured pieces that you could sling over the shoulder or wrap around the waist.
Come September she will move her show to London. Here's hoping it will be a temporary departure as she will be missed in New York where her clothes resonate well with the city's modern women.
