Ten seasons on and she still hasn’t lost her touch, her colourful spring–summer 2012 collection proving that she is still the Wunderkind designer we know and love. The beautiful new collection also wonderfully reflects Alexandra Owen’s fresh sense of direction and renewed passion for clothes.
This collection was inspired by the month Owen spent in New York, her observations of the women and their relationship to the environment inspiring her to revisit pieces from past collections, re-cutting and reinterpreting them in delightfully new and fresh ways. The collection was notably lighter in feel and attitude, with black for the first time making a limited appearance on only a few pieces.
The presentation took place at Wellington’s Museum Hotel, the perfect backdrop for this season’s collection. Owen noted during conversation after the presentation that she felt that the heat that is the New York summer requires light and airy clothes. Her clothes offer women the ability to wear outfits that allow them room to breathe while simultaneously looking stylish and confident.
Owen also noted that she feels the time has come not to take fashion so seriously. She understands that people want to have fun again with clothes and revisit what fashion is all about. Her first serious embrace of colour in the collection reflects the attitude that fashion is all about: making practical, chic and wearable art. This newfound vibrancy provides for a wonderful, enjoyable collection with a lighthearted attitude that seems to be pervading this summer.
Chartreuse, lime, scarlet, carnelian, navy, and cerulean were paired back with sandy beige, crisp white and onyx blacks, the neutrals creating a perfect backdrop to the colorful wonderful pieces of wearable fashion.
Linens, silks, and cottons featured throughout the collection in the elongated shirts and sharp tailored long line coats reflect a bit of the rising androgynous tendencies of fashion this season, but do so in a way that does not blanket the natural femininity of women. Owen balances this androgyny with diaphanous dresses and skirts that drape and flow along the body’s curves, creating the feminine lines that are a signature.
This collection creates a feeling of ease, the simplicity in the way the clothes appeared on the models underscoring the importance that low-maintenance fashion has in catering to the modern woman. Pieces are cut in a manner that allowed the models to move more freely, and fabrics were chosen on their ability to be packed up and taken away quickly. Alongside this regard for the needs of busy modern women, there was also present a sense of youthful exuberance throughout the collection as well.
Standing out in the collection were the most colourful and versatile pieces. The colour-blocked suit in scarlet red with its scrips lines and sharply tailored silhouette acted as the perfect antidote to the summer workplace wardrobe, replacing the black and grey drudgery of pantsuits with the vivacious splash of colour. The cerulean blue dress with draped back and sleeves promise to take the centre stage as the go-to outfit for those summer parties. We all look forward to while the cowl halter in lime green with pencil skirt was a perfect replica of classic Alexandra Owen DNA.
While not showing at this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week, Owen will surely be missed from the calendar. Yet her presence is required back in New York as there is the possibility that US stockists will soon on the card for this talented designer. Her star is still shining ever as brightly and this new direction by Owen will be a definite drawcard for the US market. Perhaps Barneys?
The afternoon delights of Owen’s showing were matched with the beautiful high tea provided by the talented staff of Hippopotamus restaurant at the Museum Hotel. Mushroom tartlets, cucumber sandwiches, mini-macaroons, shoe puff pastry swans, delicate mille-feuille, and banana toffee mousse proved a venerable contender as the highlight of the afternoon, but the beautiful new Alexandra Owen collection stole the show.—Sopheak Seng, Fashion & Beauty Editor
Above Alexandra Owen, interviewed by Lucire. Below More from the spring 2012 collection.
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