Rachel Roy has been busy putting the finishing touches on a renovated showroom, which she s modeled after a pre-war Parisian apartment. She s filled the open and airy space with gritty concrete sculptures of the female form by New York-based artist Jo-Ann Brody. Brody s pieces inspired Roy s new pre-fall collection, as did the work of Louise Bourgeois and the Art Deco-era sensation Tamara de Lempicka. The common thread tying together all three influences is the idea of "strong, badass women doing what they loved in a time when that was difficult," Roy said. "It s my favorite era—the hair got shorter, clothes got looser, and people embraced a more masculine edge."
Roy interpreted the Art Deco theme fairly literally on pieces like a pretty, drop-waist dress with sunburst pleating fanning out into a cascade on one side, or a gauzy sweater with a pattern that looked like a zoomed-in shot of piano keys. Personally, Roy prefers to "borrow from the boys" and gravitates toward the relaxed tweed suiting separates that she s pushed in recent seasons. But she has also built up her business on eveningwear, so there were a few statement looks here ripe for after-hours carousing or maybe the red carpet. Case in point: a turquoise dress cut from hammered silk with a built-in rose gold choker necklace and long sleeves slit along the inner arms for a flash of skin.
