Oscar de la Renta Fall 2015 RTW

For his debut collection at the house of Oscar de la Renta, Peter Copping promised to be “very respectful, to be true to Oscar’s legacy. At the same time,” Copping added, “fashion moves quickly, so you have to state your intentions from the word go. It couldn’t just be an homage.”

“Are we so excited about this?” asked legendary Chicago retailer Ikram Goldman rhetorically, as she walked into the mirror-paneled showroom, and a frisson of expectation ran through the room—not least from a bevy of Oscar’s loyal and devoted friends and clients. These redoubtable ladies were out in force: Nancy Kissinger and Barbara Walters, Mercedes Bass and Catie Marron, Lally Weymouth and Mica Ertegun. Moments before the lights dimmed, they were joined by the new guard in the comely shape of _Vogue’_s March cover girls Karlie Kloss and Taylor Swift, (Oscar’s dinner dates at the 2014 Costume Institute Gala), eye-catching in (respectively) Oscar’s grass green and flame red cocktail frocks.

With his assured, grown-up collection, Copping proved that he is more than up to calibrating this delicate balance—riffing on many of the beloved late designer’s familiar themes, but staying true to his own sophisticated sense of romance, his intriguingly moody color sense, and his subtle sense of whimsy.

Copping opened his show with an elegant black bouclé coat, its pockets frosted with jet embroidery, its flared skirts hovering just on the knee, and a roll-neck ivory blouse lighting its jewel neckline. It could take you to La Grenouille and a board meeting at the Library (especially with Guido Palau s chic French pleat), and the Oscar ladies heaved a collective sigh of relief (and were carefully annotating their run of show programs).

There were geometric weaves and prints inspired by the arresting views of the Empire State and the handsome Deco skyscrapers of Bryant Park that Copping sees from his studio windows, and graphic evening gowns that nodded to Truman Capote’s 1966 Black and White Ball. There were plenty of Oscar-isms, of course, like the prettily ruffled Edwardian blouses softening the tailoring, and playful little cha-cha dresses, reimagined with intriguing neckline treatments and cutaway swimsuit backs. And Copping’s nuanced color mixes included touches such as a cantaloupe shoe worn with a full-skirted petunia day suit, or cyclamen kid leather opera gloves paired with a mustard puffball evening skirt.

Mercedes Bass pronounced it “fabulous! It was very haute couture. He’s taking care of the Oscar girls!”

“They’re beautiful,” said Serena Marron, legs for days in a pneumatic skirt. “I love the midriffs and the interesting backs.”

“There were reminiscences of Oscar throughout,” said her mother, Catie, “and it was moving and emotional to see them interpreted in this lovely way.”