It’s always fun when Karen Walker lets her imagination run wild. When confronted with the trite question all designers must consider for Resort—what to pack for the perfect getaway?—her ingenuity lead to an unexpected retort: What more idyllic destination than heaven?
No sacrilege here: Walker kept it light and airy for Heaven Knows, as though one had gently floated above the clouds. That meant heaps of organza, often in the frothiest shade of blue, and suggestions of liturgical vestments or choir robes in the gentle surplice-like smocking of a tunic top and matching miniskirt. To the mix, Walker added several sweet little prairie dresses—or, reworked communion gowns, if you prefer—with high necks and high hems, plus a pleasing puff sleeve and pleating at the collar.
Splashes of “papal red” appeared chiefly on separates with a botanical print that loosely referenced Pocomania, a Jamaican folk religion. The chief graphic, however, was an engraved illustration of a single hand with pointed finger akin to a Michelangelo fresco, namely the Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The suggestion? “That heaven can be found anywhere,” Walker says. Look no further than the collection’s standout: A celestial blue organza dress with a series of puffed, papier-mâché–like blooms along the hem. Sheer heaven.
