Lots of designers are talking escapism this week, but for Marchesa, dreamy flights of fancy are actually their stock-in-trade. And it was business as usual at the Chelsea Art Museum, where a dense crowd that included Natalia Vodianova, Diane Kruger, and Helena Christensen flowed, oohing and aahing, around tulle-swathed models perched on white cubes. "I wanted the whole thing to be like a fairy tale," explained Marchesa's designer, Georgina Chapman. "I wanted to have fantasy." The 25 looks ably ran the gamut of what our millennial Cinderellas and Snow Whites (also known as A-listers) might clamor to wear. On offer was Marchesa's fail-safe classic Grecian in a fresh lilac; an elegant black gown with flat tulle tiers that looked like they were dipped in sequins; a cloud of black tulle over sequins belted with a ribbon bow; and the drama of a full-skirted pewter tulle gown embroidered with silver roses, topped with a bow on its bodice.
Balancing the seesaw of some dream-woven dresses that actually appeared to defy the laws of physics were two looks with black pants, something that Chapman insists she's always included. (We checked: She's right.) There was something quite striking about these lean matte trousers, one pair worn with a little peplum top and the other more dramatically shown with a draped chiffon tunic inset with a corset. But, striking or not, we have a feeling they'll be left aside when most of these confections are packed up for their trip to the Oscars this weekend.
