Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig never set out to dress their woman from 9 to 5. It’s easiest to picture most of their gowns at a very specific time of day: after dark. With hand-appliquéd crystals, ombré tulle, and 3-D embroideries, these are dresses intended for a woman’s most glamorous moments, be it a wedding or a red carpet event. In recent seasons, though, they’ve quietly introduced some low-key, flexible separates into the mix: floral shirtdresses, lace blouses, midi skirts. The response to has been so strong that they decided to create a full “Daywear” collection, debuting for Spring 2020.
The new collection was hanging side by side with the couture line in Marchesa’s showroom (the collections are photographed together here, too), revealing a few points of crossover. The lush florals and embroideries of the evening gowns were transposed onto poplin shirting and lace tea dresses, for instance, and both racks featured a bold, splashy palette loosely inspired by May Day celebrations in England. On the daywear side, the printed, embroidered, and lace-trimmed shirtdresses proved most compelling; they’ll be popular with working women who are bored of the black and gray office uniform.
The “daywear” label shouldn’t be taken too literally, though; in a world of athleisure and streetwear, these items registered as quite a bit fancier than what we typically see on the street. To the Marchesa customer, they’ll fit somewhere in between her T-shirts and leggings and her big-night-out gowns.
For her nighttime events, she might change into one of the couture collection’s nearly neon satin gowns—some of the boldest pieces Chapman and Craig have done in a while—or the lace column with embroidered ribbons unspooling to the floor (a reference to the traditional maypole). Many of the gowns were shown with matching sheer jackets or capelets trimmed with beads or marabou feathers, another growing category for the brand. A truly daring customer would skip the head-to-toe evening look and instead wear hers in a “daywear” capacity with jeans.