By Wun Kuen Ng
Couture Fashion Week New York Fall 2014 Collections were shown at The New Yorker Hotel from Friday February 14, 2014 to February 16, 2014.
The program showcased two singers, Dominika Stara and Nini DeRossi, and featured four designers, Johnny Lu (China), Laurie Elyse (USA), Otgonjargai Demberelsuren (Mongolia), and Sushma Patel (India). The eclectic mix of designers dazzled the eyes.
Lu’s collection is inspired by the Year of the Horse. Beside the runway, were two television screens with images of the Chinese calligraphy of the character “Horse,” and images of running horses. Models walked down the runway without shoes and had gold glitter all over their faces. The outfits were silk on the outside and latex on the inside with a hand-painted Chinese character “Horse” on them. The main colors in the collection were gold, yellow, black, white and red. One dress had the character “Dragon” on the back and the character “Horse” in the front, which signifyed last year and this New Year. One outfit had two models attached by one cloth, like two horses walking in a pair. There were many loose outfits: one was a poncho, one had wide sleeves, another looked like a Greek toga. They captured the spirit of the horse—free, natural, graceful and raw. It is a cerebral collection.
Elyse’s collection is edgy. Some of her models wore head pieces made of silver canisters melted together. A designer with multiple sclerosis, she used the medical supplies in her home to design the collection. Syringes were made into handbags and gauges were use to make sexy tops. Some of the skirts are made of paper medical charts or plastic wraps from the mortuary. Most of the dresses were white, or white tops with black skirts. She designs for the everyday woman, and not the celebrity.
For the first time, a designer from Mongolia showed her collection in the United States. Demberelsuren’s label Couture Otgoo featured a collection of fifteen outfits influenced by traditional Mongolian wardrobe. Traditional colors of red, green, and blue, and classical patterns were seen throughout. Some of the dresses are modernized with very high hemlines. The models worn round brocade with colored stones on their head, inspired by Mongolian headgear. The outfits are very architectural with high shoulder pieces that protrude. There were three outfits with tassels, two male outfits, and one was a black shirt with tassels on its sleeves. One breath-taking fuschia dress fit for an empress had high shoulder, embroidered sleeves and six-section ruffles that floated. The entire collection is sophisticated, elegant, intelligently designed, and an architectural feat.
Patel’s collection was inspired by a dancing butterfly. Her models wore gold headdresses resembling butterfly wings. They looked like crowns, and the dresses made the models look like enchanted fairies. All the dresses were in tones of brown, gold, silver, or white. Some dresses had embroidery of branches and butterflies. Patel wanted to capture the butterfly as it is coming out of the cocoon. The entire collection looked very feminine and sensual. Out of the twelve outfits, the sleeveless dress with A-line really stood out. The bottom of the dress had embroidered butterflies. The model wore a see-through blue head veil with silver trimming. She looked like a princess.
Besides being fashionably late, the show started at 9 PM instead of 8 PM, the two singers were a nice break to the program. Stara has a smoky jazzy voice. The evening ended with Patel getting a cake on the runway to celebrate her 50th birthday.
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