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Douglas Hannant
DOUGLAS HANNANT
launched his first collection in the fall of 1996, and it was immediately
picked up by Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue,
Nordstrom's and Bloomingdale's. His goal, from the beginning, was
to ‘redefine luxury for the modern American woman,’ utilizing
luxurious fabrics, great attention to detail and impeccable finishes.
Unfortunately, while it was beautiful and faithful
to its stated æsthetic, his fall 2004 collection was merely
serviceable. It was not a standout collection by any means. I did,
however, like all the sexy red evening gowns at the end, but overall,
it was a pretty boring affair. There is always next season.
Luca Luca
JULY 15 marked the seventh anniversary
of the late, great and sorely missed Gianni Versace's murder in
South Beach, Miami; still to this day, his spirit and legacy of
advocating for designs that celebrate women sexuality lives on.
And while Luca Orlandi credits his skin-tight, take-no-prisoner,
overtly sexy looks to Lara Croft, Tomb Raider; it's not too much
of a stretch to say that he was also channelling Mr Versace.
The slinky, revealing looks he sent out for fall—black
leather and stretch duchesse silk jackets and tops, super-slim pants
(with criss-cross straps over the knees and waist) and tightly cropped,
motorcross-inspired (with padded detailing) jackets, and dominatrix-style
corset tops—certainly got (and kept) my attention. His archetypical,
self-sufficient woman dresses primarily in black, which runs the
gamut from basic (tons of leather pieces) to not-so-basic (shiny
silk satin, fur-trimmed wool, alpaca). The signature cut is skin-tight
to the nth degree and accessorized with minimal ruching detailing,
Swarovski crystals, bias ruffles, lacing, and fur.
He opened the show with a mahogany ultra-fitted
leather jacket paired with mahogany stretch silk satin "roller
blade" pants—very upscale Mad Max. I, likewise,
loved his black angora–cashmere long jacket with shearling
collar (and cut out back), the sexy cropped leather jacket (with
back laced up detailing) that is molded so seductively to the model's
chest, Oluchi in a ’70s black kimono stretch wool jacket (with
banded waist) paired with black wool pants, and his fabulous black
baby alpaca coat with jewelled cuff. His silver jersey top with
Swarovski crystals (paired with duchesse silk pants) brings to mind
the heyday of New York City's Studio 54 when partying hard seemingly
had no negative repercussions beyond a massive hangover the morning
after. Those were the days.
But he did one better with the addition of his
evening pieces. It was almost a 180-degree turn, in that he sent
out lovely pieces that neatly balanced out the designs that came
before. The theme was still one of fierce independence, but here,
Lara Croft hid her strength under the cloak of girlie girl beauty.
I adored Liya in his rose duchesse silk dress, Linda in his rose
asymmetrical silk dress with Swarovski crystals, Maria Carla in
his rose silk and wool cowl neck dress with Swarovski crystal embellishments,
and Maja in his black wool and silk beaded dress with crisscross
shoulder strap detailing. His black silk and georgette long dress
was all the sexier with its transparent sheer side panels, and he
closed the show with Liya and Maria Carla in ocean (blue) silk-chiffon
and silk-georgette long dresses with lace-up back details.
CONTINUED
 
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ABOVE: Douglas
Hannant. BELOW: Luca Luca.
     
While Luca Orlandi credits
his skin-tight, take-no-prisoner, overtly sexy looks to Lara Croft,
it’s not too much of a stretch to say that he was also channelling
Gianni Versace
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