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Cheryl Gorski

FashionLucire fall-winter 2004

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   I liked her olive satin jacket paired with a lime-pink tweed skirt, her stretch leather fur-lined jacket and her all-purpose cashmere check blazer (paired with a velvet peg skirt). Her déco print cotton–velvet jacket also stood out because it was one of the more out-there daywear pieces shown.
   The masterful menswear influence in her burnt orange long cashmere coat and her black long opera coat with fox fur cuffs were the best coats in the collection.
   For evening, there is still work to do to bring her designs up to the Oscar de la Renta–Carolina Herrera level, but Mrs DeVos shows obvious improvements with each new season. Out of all the eveningwear pieces, the following best represented her developing skill: her red silk–chiffon ruffled bustier gown with velvet ribbon detailing, a black satin bustier gown with beading detail and illusion sleeves, a medallion lace sleeveless top (with olive silk taffeta ball skirt), an olive satin bustier gown with button back (and bow) back detailing and a sexy purple satin mock (turtle)neck gown with button (and bow) back detailing.
   Ms DeVos is not yet at the high levels of almost couture quality but she's heading in the right direction. A little bit more seasoning and she too will be revered as Mr de la Renta and Mrs Herrera.

 
Oscar de la Renta

OSCAR DE LA RENTA (like his fellow designer Ralph Lauren), is such an established figure in the New York fashion industry that we all know what to expect every time he has a show: extraordinarily detailed handiwork; fabrics that are rich and spicy, in cha-cha-cha textured colours with designs cut to flatter the wearer. This is the Oscar de la Renta design æsthetic; and at age 71, it hasn't failed him yet.
   For fall, Mr de la Renta played to his target audience and gave them some of the most sumptuous daytime and evening cocktail suits of the season, extremely luxurious coats for all occasions, and wonderful evening pieces that truly lived up to his reputation for dressing women they way they see themselves: sexy and desirable. He accentuated his customer's curves by designing terrific form-flattering, hip-hugging pencil skirts (some with decorative feather accents on the hemlines) and bias-cut A-line shaped dresses that ripple beneath body-hugging jackets, richly textured with beading and other decorative accents.
   A smartly cut, nubby grey dress is finished off with a flirty feathery hemline, while a fabulous brown flared skirt got a lift from a spray of guinea hen feathers. Mr de la Renta loves fur and other animal skins—and actually knows how to use them. He showed some to-die-for skirts with brown fur trim and he used sable, shearling, mink, and other animal skins in places where we expect them to be (fab collar and coat cuff accents) and places where we were surprised to see them.
   For evening, his designs were excellent examples of why he has remained on top for so long in an industry that eats its young. Every piece was designed to dazzle and make his women feel enveloped in an aura of rich luxury. Yes, he sometimes can't help himself from going overboard with the finery, but that is just a small matter when faced with such beauty and talent.
   He heightened the glamour factor for evening by accessorizing his designs with jewellery from Fred Leighton, and in a season where ruffles have taken a life all their own (Heaven help us!), he tamed the beast without missing a step. •

Phillip D. Johnson is features’ editor of Lucire.

LEFT: Pamella Roland. BELOW: Oscar de la Renta.

Extraordinarily detailed handiwork; fabrics that are rich and spicy, in cha-cha-cha textured colours with designs cut to flatter the wearer—this is the Oscar de la Renta design æsthetic and it hasn’t failed him yet

 

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