Disco Fashion Inferno
Queen of the night: Top evening gown designer channels disco glamour for red carpet fun
Jenny Packham may be the go-to red-carpet source for such celebrities as the Duchess of Cambridge, Adele and Helen Mirren, but the British designer is really a disco diva at heart.
That seemed to be the take-away from Packham's fall collection, unveiled at Skylight Clarkson Square during New York Fashion Week, as she presented a glittery collection of eveningwear that just makes you want to get up and dance.
As the Donna Summer classic, "Love to Love You Baby," wafted over the speakers, models sent out one gorgeous sequined gown after another, with a number of them evoking the era when dressing up to party the night away was what everyone did.
"It is the most colorful collection we’ve done in awhile. It's all about escaping out of yourself for the evening, and creating your own look," Packham told reporters backstage. "This really is a party collection.”
Packham said she drew inspiration from Ross Whitaker's photos of the Parisian club scene in last days of disco in the '80s, during a period "where it was hip to be glamorous."
The collection, which will be available at Elizabeth Anthony, took on a new energy with lace mini-dresses, crystal-studded fringe coats, golden gowns with bell sleeves and thigh-high slits, black-and-silver gowns with sequined lightning bolts, and hologram sequin gowns that change color according to the light. A long-sleeve tomato red ombre hologram long-sleeved gown seemed ready-made for the red carpet — possibly at next week's Oscars?
And, in a refreshing departure, models wore stylish Mary Jane satin or velvet flats instead of towering stilettos — footwear that's much easier to dance away the night in.