Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema meets Marisa Berenson: As far as inspiration goes, that’s a daring match. But for Luisa Beccaria, it was a successful one, at least in the garden, where the action for her Spring collection took place. It was a quite literal celebration of “flower power”—or an homage to a horticultural obsession. Billowy dresses bloomed with a lavish abundance of lilacs, roses, carnations, irises, hydrangeas, tulips, violets, cornflowers, periwinkles, cyclamens. Printed or embroidered in exquisite appliqués, they called to mind From Marie Antoinette's Garden, a recently published tome that praised the encyclopedic love that the French queen had for all the flowery specimens she tried to grow at the Petit Trianon, her pastoral retreat.
Ever the romantic, Beccaria indulged her passion for long, ethereal gowns in wispy organza, lace, and chiffon: They had a prairie-chic spirit spiced up with a hint of folklore. Seventies bohemian silhouettes added a fresh spin to an ultrafeminine lineup of Empire-waisted frothy dresses with bouffant sleeves and coquette décolletages. Wide-brimmed straw hats and languid floral scarves completed the bucolic look. The crowd of posh mothers and daughters, part of Beccaria’s loyal family-and-friends audience, looked very pleased, ready to order dresses that would be perfect for weddings in historical Tuscan villas, or tea parties in manicured gardens.
