Dice Kayek’s cofounder, Ece Ege, loves fables and fairy tales. She also wishes she had studied architecture. With her latest haute couture collection, she made a compelling case that these two interests are not mutually exclusive. The show opened with a coatdress in the faintest pink bonded crepe, its neckline tilting backward to accentuate the décolletage just this once (assuming you don’t count the ravenesque feathers spiking chestward from a strapless velvet number).
Broad creative license lifted the historical weight of several looks, as if Ege’s dreams had produced visions of a French count crossed with Audrey Hepburn, or an androgynous Belle Epoque bon vivant. The one outfit in allover red seemed obliquely Little Red Riding Hood and Roman cardinal, its sleeves molding inward like cake fondant. As for physical weight, most designs were more buoyant than they appeared, which, for Ege, represented a considerable technical accomplishment. “A fight against gravity,” was how she summed up the sculpted shapes, none supported by any internal framing.
With its exaggerated peplums, belled silhouettes, caped jackets, and crisp white plastrons, the collection felt ceremonial and at times cinematic. More than 600 feet of lace went into creating the decadently tiered final look, a nightdress worthy of a modern Marie Antoinette. Ege noted a surrealistic aspect and described certain shapes as “floating.” Yet she was adamant that they were rooted in reality. Which, in the realm of haute couture, is relative. Despite the reworked baroque formality, the models all wore pointed flats.
