Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia’s Oscar de la Renta resort collection was photographed at the New York Botanical Garden, but the Bronx institution was more than just a pretty backdrop. Kim, who is the duo’s print aficionado, discovered the 16th century botanist and horticulturist Charles de l’Ecluse during her research this season. De l’Ecluse was famous for introducing the tulip to Holland. He also had a thing for mushrooms, and fungi pop up on a botanical jacquard that she used for a coat and a matching print that appears on a flowy shirtdress.
In true Oscar fashion, this collection is abloom with all manner of flowers. They’re embroidered in large yellow sequins on a sky blue caftan and beaded onto a stretch tulle cocktail dress. Adriana DeBose wore a sleeveless version of the flowers-and-power mesh dress in look 32 to the Time 100 Gala last week, and blossoms also take the form of buttons of a tweed suit and shift dress. Garcia, for his part, was pleased with the quilting he used on colorful dresses and mini suits with petal-shaped cut-outs. The technique is more typical of long dresses for evening, he explained, but “cut-outs have become a go-to for our customer.”
The Oscar de la Renta customer has a new surprise in store for her: flower printed leggings. These are a personal favorite of Kim’s. She’s teaching herself to garden because de la Renta was so fond of his own gardens in Connecticut and the Dominican Republic, but she’s still a 21st century woman and leggings are the current uniform. She paired them with a matching cape top or a coordinating second-skin turtleneck and cropped tweed jacket. Another nod at modern utility with a playful wink: a red leather dress whose puff sleeve gloves button off at the shoulder for a two-in-one look.
