At Beare Park, Gabriella Pereira was feeling a shift in mood. In a departure from previous seasons, instead of the tried-and-true classic wardrobe pieces she’s been known for, her lineup looked sexier and sultrier. The cement gray French lace-trimmed silk charmeuse dress in the second look immediately communicated the shift. “I feel like it’s a coming of age,” she said backstage after the show. “Our brand has built a really beautiful foundation for the last four years, building trust with our audience about the craftsmanship and the quality and our elegant core pieces, but it felt like time to mature and experiment—to take it on to the edge of risk.”
There was a through-line to the more hard-edged ’90s New York of Calvin Klein and Helmut Lang, designers whose minimalism was wrought in the specifics of urban contemporary living, but in her hands it’s softer and more feminine. Her simple slinky silk satin tank tops often exposed the back in alluring ways, or otherwise had lace-up details; long shift dresses featured extra-long armholes that exposed the skin down to the hipbones and yet remained tasteful. A pair of bridal-ready gowns were certainly among the collection’s highlights—and not just because the women who wore them were older than the standard model cast and brought a different aura to the clothes. They felt modern and fresh, though Pereira was reluctant to qualify them as wedding dresses.
“They’re what you perceive them to be, I guess,” she said with a sly smile. “But it’s the biggest honor when you make dresses and someone emails you and says they wore it to get married, or for their baby’s christening—it’s such a moment.” Perhaps it’s a case of art imitating life—the designer recently got engaged and is expecting a baby boy. It made the collection’s unexpected pops of powder blue very endearing. “It’s an emotional collection,” she added.
