Painting a Pretty Collection
The Texas girl in New York fashion: Lela Rose blooms in a new direction withGerhard Richter
Lela Rose is a Texas girl who doesn't shy away from color.
Lela Rose with Brittany Snow during Fashion Week in New York.Photo by Clifford Pugh
Designer Lela Rose skipped the sketch pad and instead reached for canvas and a palette for her fall 2011 collection. Inspired by artist Gerhard Richter, the collection is full of patterns, textures and blue in all its hues.
Rose gets a lot of press for being a Texas girl living in New York and she doesn’t apologize or shy away from playful bursts of color and the feminine charm that characterize her designs. In fact, she embraces it, just as she did as a presenting designer at Fashion Houston last October, where her dresses were naturally well received.
“Women in Texas and the South celebrate color, but they also don’t live up to certain stereotypes like big hair and well, big everything,” Rose says.
In a world of more is never enough, Rose enjoys the less-is-more mantra and employed it in her designs, taking an organic role in the creation of her fall collection. A Gerhard Richter exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago sealed the direction of the collection, sparking a desire to probe the colors used by one of her favorite artists.
“It just hit me that this would be the best way to do it, so we painted on canvas and then scraped off parts to create prints for the collection. It was very fun and such an interesting inspiration for the clothes,” Rose says.
The results are blue to gray hombre dresses, drapey checked jackets, sophisticated shine and even some red-carpet worthy evening gowns. The chiffon-draped gowns are personal favorites Rose says, because of how beautifully they move.
Rose is also maintaining her Lela Rose for Payless Shoes line and almost gave up the name of the retailer who she is collaborating with on a fast fashion capsule collection out soon. She was cautious about dipping her toe in the fast-fashion pool simply because of the Payless collection, but clearly, the time and retailer were a good fit.
“We didn’t want to do too much, but we have some great knit pieces, fun prints and color at a great price point. The shapes will be easy to wear and fun,” Rose says.
While we have to wait and see where to nab the capsule collection, Rose and the fall 2011 pieces will be at Tootsies Wednesday for a public appearance and trunk show. Rose will be on hand from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
