“Louis was the first fashion rock star that ever lived,” Vera Wang declared. “He was the original power dresser.” She was referring to King Louis XIV, or the Sun King, known for his grand palace of Versailles, and the inspiration for her Fall 2019 Bridal collection. “He was obsessed with clothing. He enforced a strict dress code, [and] not only that, he enforced a strict behavioral code—but the clothing demanded a certain behavior,” said Wang. For her, that translated to seductive, ethereal dresses peppered with regal finishes like metallic lace. “It’s a new way of doing color…ish,” she said. There were tulle Elizabethan-ruffs and horsehair bodices, too. “Suggestive,” said Wang, “not obvious.”
The 15-piece collection was an extension of last year’s couture-like gowns photographed in the Luxembourg Gardens, but with a lighter hand. Wang evoked grandeur and opulence with modern materials and pairings. A long-sleeved nude and ivory gown was actually two dresses layered together, for instance, with a pleated tulle overlay and a dusting of shimmering gold Chantilly lace. “The mixture of the nude [with white] became very important,” Wang explained. “You see the body in the body.”
There were hints of classic Wang codes, too. For purists, she cut A-line and mermaid silhouettes infused with just a hint of the designer’s directional touch: “I don’t feel like a bridal designer,” she said. “I feel like a designer who happens to do bridal.” Leave it to Wang to throw out the rule book—again—and redefine what it means to be a bride in 2019: “She’s fashion-forward. Freer. Less apologetic, now more than ever.”
