If you head to Provence, you’ll find yourself immersed in a world of lavender. The French province is famous for the bloom, and tourists flock to see it growing in a violet wave from the peaks of Mont Ventoux onward. For Christian Siriano, the natural beauty of the region had a lasting effect, one that gave his Pre-Fall collection its bold color palette and theme. Siriano used the shade to great effect, working it into every other look. If that feels excessive, you’ll just have to deal with it. “You either love it or hate it,” he shared at his uptown boutique. “This was the first time I’ve really used lavender, so I decided that I was just going to go for it.”
There’s a gusto to Siriano’s approach that makes it appealing. The color of kings, queens, and Prince, purple provokes a strong reaction, and Siriano used it to highlight his most daring pieces. Presented on the back of Westworld actress Angela Sarafyan, whom he dressed for this year’s Emmys, the expansive ball gowns and ruffled minidresses work, especially when they veer into over-the-top territory. Bombastic fashion has always been Siriano’s specialty, and the decadence of a dress with three tiers of satin frippery makes sense within his world.
Everyday basics without pomp and circumstance provide the greater challenge, but here he offered another first. Polka dots may be standard fare, but it is one motif he’s avoided in the past; this time around he offered a variety, from oversize to barely visible, worked into casual separates as a means of spicing things up. A cream knit blazer dotted with flecks of plum and glossy PVC midi skirts paired with matching boots were nice, but there’s a chance Siriano’s lighthearted customer skips all that for the madcap fun of lavender tulle and crystals.
