Oscar de la Renta didn t do shows for his pre-collections. He preferred a presentation format—that way he could chat with attendees not just about the clothes, but about their love lives. So we were reminded today, ahead of a brief, intimate défilé at the Oscar de la Renta atelier. Oscar wasn t there, of course, but his spirit filled the room. It was also inherent in the clothes: Pre-Fall 2015 was the last collection he had a hand in designing. The house s new creative director, Peter Copping, advised the studio a bit on how to finish it, after de la Renta s death in October, but this wasn t his debut. Copping sat in the front row, taking it all in as a bystander, in essence.
How does one review a collection like this—one that operates not as a swan song, not as an homage, but as a coda to a great career, now definitively over? On its merits, of course. And though these clothes didn t serve to turn the fashion dial in any way, they manifested the soigné de la Renta signature in spades. India was more or less the theme, apparent in the collection s plethora of hot pink—famously, the "navy blue of India"—and its hothouse florals and jaw-dropping thread embroidery. There was a suggestion of a sari in the way that ruffles wrapped around the body, or in the choli-taut fit of a bow-backed sleeveless top of double-stretch wool. The reference was put in the service of the de la Renta look rather than hammered home. It spoke loudest in the collection s clutch of cocktail frocks and gowns, particularly in a New Look-shaped dress of navy tulle that featured bright pink floral-thread embroidery, and the champagne-toned finale gowns with allover gold or silver embellishment. The maharaja s wife moves to New York, gets a place on Park Avenue, and needs things to wear to her nigh-nightly galas. Naturally, she turns first to de la Renta.
