A Polish painter of ballerinas, Victorian portraiture, and illustrations of birds all hung on Christian Siriano’s mood board for Pre-Fall. But the inspiration is neither here nor there when it comes to Siriano’s business and design ethos. His motives are clear: Create a collection that lives as happily on the sales floor as it does on the backs of women who adore him, from Christina Hendricks to Neve Campbell to Leslie Jones.
In those arenas, Siriano can mark Pre-Fall a success. A tie-sleeve day dress has hanger appeal for ladies of all ages and shapes, as do the classicist LBDs of all cuts that make up a small portion of the collection. His red carpet clientele will be well taken care of in a blush pink belted gown or slate blue number with a full skirt. Somewhere in between, though, the message of the collection veered off. For someone who excels at refined daywear with a little flair—exactly the trait that made him popular with First Lady Michelle Obama recently—the collection edged into overdone territory with a little too much wow and too little why. Remarkably oversize bows and electric, baby pink tulle turned overly sweet, while a brief stint in Lurex stripes and ruffles felt out of place amid the ladylike romanticism many of Siriano’s looks conjured.
At a preview, the designer noted that pre-seasons actually make up the bulk of his business as they sit in stores longer, which was the main impetus for including more looks than ever before in this season’s collection. His expansive goals could benefit from a bit of editing. The good news is that the few missteps in Pre-Fall don’t matter much at the end of the day; if Siriano’s glamorous celebrity clientele bite, so, most likely, will shoppers.
