If forty is the new thirty, then it’s set to be a pivotal year for the wrap dress. Diane von Furstenberg kicked off the anniversary of her iconic design earlier this year with an exhibit in Los Angeles charting the journey of the dress through the past four decades. This season the starting point for inspiration circled back to the turn of the century and the groundbreaking work of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The legendary impresario drew from the wellspring of talented young artists for their wildly colorful costumes, and the distinctive hand-painted folkloric motifs were recognizable the moment model Karen Elson opened the show in a black, gold, and white dress.
The deep-V neckline and geometric print also recalled the heady days of the seventies, the kind of look you could imagine von Furstenberg test-driving at Studio 54 when she first arrived in New York as a young émigré. That hip-swiveling mood of the era, most recently shown in Golden Globe–winning film American Hustle, was on the runways, too. It’s not hard to imagine Amy Adams’s smoldering character in a plunging print chiffon dress and a fur jacket draped over her shoulder. That being said, there was nothing costumey about these clothes. The subtle re-imaginings of the wrap silhouette were entirely modern and the new full-skirted iterations were a flattering update on the classic for a woman at any age.
To close the show, a troop of models clad in gold wrap dresses paraded along the runway and joined the adorable Annie Clark of St. Vincent, who performed throughout. A glittering shower of confetti fell onto the crowd as von Furstenberg took her bow. You could call it a wrap, but clearly the party is only getting started.
Thanks to: http://www.vogue.com/fashion-week/861880/diane-von-furstenberg-fall-2014/
