Designer Lela Rose was excited and ready to stage an outdoor New York Fashion Week get-together, but in the weeks leading up to the event, decided to switch gears due uncertainties caused from the ongoing pandemic (as well as business practicality). Instead, Rose shot her romantic spring collection at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum up in the Bronx and staged personal appointments within the brand’s midtown showroom.
The collection, in true Rose fashion, was romantic, girly and optimistic (the pastel palette felt super fresh for the brand) with plenty of offerings for her customer who is more than ready to get dressed up.
The look: Easy, modern romance with the beauty and opulence of an English garden.
Quote of note: “The whole thing is English Gardens and Catherine the Great,” Rose said during a showroom walk-through of spring. “This is like the ceiling taken from Versailles, done in this medallion pattern and print, that was our version of it — taffeta, gorgeous, really over-the-top.…Everything that’s selling right now, nothing is ‘plain and safe.’ So we’re excited about the fabulous colors.”
Key pieces: Uncomplicated, pastel separates (with large-scale barbell pearl-pin gathered details) and frocks with gathered, pleated or floral lace details (as in a standout limoncello day dress); painterly garden florals and medallion printed dresses (a statement printed strapless gown or lightweight number with ruffled blouson sleeves); an off-the-shoulder bustier-style dress in seafoam felt very of-the-era in a modern way.
The takeaway: Rose’s ideas of “modern royalty,” worked well through the collection’s unfussy, lively fashions.
