Christian Siriano (Q2767)
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Christian Siriano is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Christian Siriano |
Christian Siriano is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
In a grand ballroom inside the ritzy Pierre Hotel in New York City, designer Christian Siriano transformed the space by erecting a giant weeping willow tree (fake, of course) smack-dab in the middle of it. Suddenly, the room—filled with black tie-clad showgoers like Selma Blair, Cyndi Lauper, and Lil’ Kim—felt just a little less stuffy, and a little more fantasy-like. “I really wanted this dark, Grimms’ Fairy Tales feeling,” said Siriano. “It’s a bit of a fairyland—but a dark fairyland.” Naturally, the designer—known for his theatrical tulle gowns and voluminous silhouettes—had the clothes to match. This season Siriano riffed on his signatures (tulle, lots and lots of sequins, and more tulle), but aimed to give them more of a twisted-romantic feel.Candidly, the designer said that the more macabre sensibility this season reflected his inner workings when crafting the collection: While grappling with uncertain changes to his business, he said, “I was feeling all that [darkness]—but I was also in an evening, glamour mood.” Hence he decided to fuse the eerie with the elegant. The first look was a black, off-the-shoulder leather dress with beaded cutouts that were meant to mimic the pattern found on tree bark. “You feel like this amazing nymph thing in it,” said Siriano. The first 17 looks continued on with the black focus—a downer of a shade for a designer who does fun and levity so well. Black soon transitioned to white, though, where Siriano did his take on a fairy bride. There were asymmetrical tuxedo jackets, and strapless corset gowns with a built-in draped skirt.While the assortment was largely devoid of color, there were attempts to make it not so much of a snoozefest, like the “tattooed” black lace work on tops, pants, and gowns. “When you wear it, it looks like it’s tattooed onto your skin,” said Siriano. Plus, as one of the few New York designers who continues to make size diversity a real noticeable focus on the runway, it’s hard to criticize him for having too many black looks, when they do come in all silhouettes and sizes.Siriano’s more colorful, eye-popping designs shined brighter—a happy ending to his fairytale. He experimented with pink tulle frocks with widened shoulders and an even wider skirt; and a floor-length tulle gown with bell sleeves and a long, sweeping train—in a dégradé shade of blues and purples.“It was all about creating texture, and different shapes and silhouettes,” he said.
Florals, given the fantasy theme, also appeared—though very literally, on the sleeves of ball gowns, and shaped as a giant lily across the chest.Embroidered metallics applied onto sheer mesh netting worked well on the knee-length cocktail dresses—sure to be a red carpet hit with Siriano’s A-list clientele—but after the 10th iteration, it began to feel like a storybook that would never end. The collection could have used an edit. But the ending was well worth it: Jessica Stam and Coco Rocha emerged as Siriano’s silver fairies—Rocha in a sculptural gown with an exaggerated neckline and built-in hood, and Stam in one of his silver appliquéd gowns. When in doubt, call in some supers to end with a bang.
7 September 2024
This season, designer Christian Siriano enlisted a close friend to model his new collection—and that friend just so happened to beRuPaul’s Drag Racestar Gottmik, who has beenthefashion contender to beat on this current season ofAll Stars.(Gottmik made history when he became the first trans man to ever compete on the series back in 2021.) “He was my muse this season,” said Siriano. “I love Gottmik’s fashions and confidence. I wanted to show people how beautiful and elegant he is.”The spirit certainly matched Siriano’s designs this season, which also had an emphasis on whimsical elegance—albeit in a dark, twisted way. For resort, Siriano designed a mostly black collection. This was an unusual choice for him, given that Siriano is known for his sprightly, upbeat colors. “I really liked the idea of something being dark and sinister, yet very romantic,” said Siriano, who also cited vintage pinup images and Old Hollywood stars as references. “We used a lot of black, but there’s a lot of texture and movement around the body. We played around with sheerness and opacity.”The designer created bold statement gowns with shapely silhouettes. They felt refreshingly pared-back for Siriano, who is known for bringing the drama. Corseted and boned bodices came complete with sheer, paneled ball skirts, and a draped, mesh gown was punctuated with beaded crystals. What the frocks lacked in color, they made up for in interesting materials—or a deliberate lack of them. “I was sick of seeing all these sexy sheer dresses. I wanted to show how you can show your body but still be kind of covered,” he said of his naked-illusion dresses.A few pops of vibrancy came in the form of colorful gowns. The highlights were the big cape made of tiered ombré pink organza, or the strapless, corseted ball gown with a laminated iridescent finish. “I wanted you to feel the fabric through a picture,” said Siriano. A strapless baby pink gown had trims of gathered tulle at the bust, waist, and sleeves. “We did a lot of fabric manipulation this season,” he added. “It’s cool to give tulle its own sculpture.”The finale gown was a purple ball skirt with a mesh top made of laser-cut flowers. It’s precisely the type of head-turning fashion you’d expect to see onDrag Race—or a fancy Upper East Side gala. “That was my whimsical, fairy-like creature,” he said of the gown.
12 June 2024
This month, the cast ofDune: Part Two(Zendaya! Timmy! Florence!) has been making the rounds on the red carpets to promote the upcoming Denis Villeneuve film—and Christian Siriano’s fall collection couldn’t be more in sync. This season, the designer drew inspiration from the original Frank Herbert novel that the film is based on—specifically taking interest in its desert terrain and post-apocalyptic feel. “I looked at all of the old movie posters,” said Siriano, adding that the reference resulted in him creating designs “that were soft, draped, and sand-like. It’s not a somber collection; there’s a lot of richness to it.”Of course, this was a Siriano show, so he had to make the end of the world feel, somehow, glam. “I started thinking about if we lived in this post-apocalyptic place, and what we would wear for evening,” said Siriano. “I wanted to explore futurism in a more romantic way—less armor-like.” He landed on a dusty color palette to do so, zeroing in on looks in deep reds, burnt oranges, and golden hues. What the earthy tones lacked in brightness, they made up for in luxe materials, including silky wool suits, foiled outerwear, and metallic Lurex dresses.TheDuneof it all really came through with the tailoring. Siriano—who’s often known for his voluminous, theatrical silhouettes—wanted to experiment with a softer, more fluid approach to his cuts. As a result, his asymmetrical draping lent classic ideas—suits, ball gowns—a new feel. “Everything was about movement, which a lot of customers are asking for,” he said. “They don’t want a stiff dress that doesn’t do anything anymore.” Still, be couldn’t restrain himself from a bit of extravagance: The big ruffled skirts, feathered shoulder embellishments, and splashes of tulle felt—at times—unnecessary.Though Siriano said he didn’t specifically have the newDunecast in mind when designing, it’s hard not to envision Zendaya wearing some of his more standout evening gowns, which would be perfect for her current press tour. His sunset-striped Lurex gown, draped off the shoulder, was begging to be worn at a Hollywood premiere, as was his strapless column gown in a shimmering tangerine color, complete with a draped and corseted bodice. But it was less about dressing A-listers this season, he said, and more about creating silhouettes that would flatter a variety of bodies. (Siriano is one of the few New York designers who consistently considers size diversity.
) “I wanted to show that any body can look amazing in a beautiful piece,” he said. He also intended the clothes to be transporting. “I just wanted people to feel like they’re in another world for 20 minutes,” he said. “Whatever world you’re dreaming of!”
8 February 2024
What do Janet Jackson, Laura Linney, Laverne Cox, Sia, Quinta Brunson, Kesha, Avril Lavigne, and Alicia Silverstone have in common? On a hot and rainy Friday afternoon, they gathered at the Pierre Hotel for Christian Siriano’s 15th anniversary runway show. And what a sight it was to see the stars in the front row, taking videos of Coco Rocha posing up a storm while Sia sang “shine bright like a diamond” in the background. How often do you see that kind of celebrity at New York Fashion Week anymore?Siriano was inspired by ballet, which he studied as a child. Specifically, he channeled the excitement of being backstage and watching a show live. “That’s when I fell in love with eveningwear and fantasy and seeing sugarplum fairies come to life,” he said. The opening section was filled with all-black outfits, corsets, and tailoring, which gradually gave way to pure opulence. (The true dividing line between the collection was look 37, a Versailles-ish cornflower blue and gold dress with a bustle.) You couldn’t miss the theme: It was evident in the ribbons, the tulle so plentiful it could outfit the American Ballet Theatre, and the lush pointe-shoe pink. It all looked more like the costumes a dancer would wear rather than the everyday rehearsal attire that #Balletcore appropriates—again, more fantasy than reality.For her surprise performance, Sia wore a pink tulle dress with a hefty train that matched her signature blunt bob wig and oversized hair bow. All eyes were on her as she started to sing “Chandelier” while models kept walking past. You have to admire Siriano’s commitment to delivering a show rather than a mere march of outfits. His panache extends out of the clothes and into the venue, models, presentation, and, of course, the guest list.
8 September 2023
Christian Siriano was inspired by Audrey Hepburn for his fall 2023 collection. For resort he’s looking to another classic style icon: Princess Diana (and British royalty at large). He started working on the collection on a trip to England and Ireland, to attend museum exhibitions in each country. The first was “Crown to Couture” at Kensington Palace, which showcases contemporary red carpet looks (including some by Siriano) alongside real royals’ own attire. “Being in that room with all those clothes was so cool,” Siriano said. And so the regal mood was set.Fluid dark blue gowns with elegant draping and an emerald long-sleeved dress with a squared neckline look like something Kate Middleton might wear, in line with her sophisticated style. Siriano also created a sharp black-and-white jumpsuit, a striped wide-leg trouser suit that matches his furniture collection, and a white minidress with a floral appliqué skirt. The latter was styled, rather unnecessarily, with a sheer ankle-length skirt, though Siriano does say his clients are looking for convertible pieces in order to get more wear out of their expensive black-tie attire.Of course, there still is that signature Siriano flamboyance, manifesting in a lilac cape with black feathers along the hem, for one. Siriano wanted to create things that “had shape and volume but were still really light,” as seen in a black, half-sheer/half-opaque black dress with a removable over-skirt. The final look is a pink fluffy ball skirt with a cropped turtleneck and oversized pearls—more the people’s idea of a princess than the people’s princess.
14 June 2023
Christian Siriano has had a busy week. He dressed several stars for the Grammys on Sunday, outfitted Vice President Kamala Harris for the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and staged a 56-look runway show at Gotham Hall in New York on Thursday. “I was on a 6 a.m. train to Washington, D.C., did the fitting, came back and did 34 fittings for this show,” Siriano said backstage. “I was like ‘are we alive everybody?’” The sharp burgundy suit that Harris wore was quite different from the clothes paraded down the catwalk on Thursday evening, which ranged from a sunshine yellow bubble-hemmed and -shouldered midi dress to a cutout tuxedo jacket with tails in the front worn only with tights and a saucer hat.If that makes you think of Audrey Hepburn, then you and Siriano think alike. A photo of the actor dressed as Holly Golightly in one of the aforementioned hats greeted each guest. “We’re calling it Audrey Hepburn’s rose garden, but at midnight or 2 a.m. So it’s a little darker, a little sexier,” Siriano said backstage. The venue was filled with pink, purple, and white roses to drive home the effect. The flowers of Hepburn’s garden inspired the clothes as much as she did, through graphic rose prints and rosettes.Siriano is dedicated to providing a fantastical escape through his runway shows. While hecando politician-appropriate tailoring, he uses the catwalk to showcase his other skill sets. And he says that works for his business: “All we are selling is evening wear. Every client, every store.” Still, watching the collection unfold, the moments of quiet and restraint—at least, by Siriano’s standards—were by far the most compelling. That doesn’t mean Siriano should be a minimalist. Just that the looks that require fewer adjectives to describe them have that movie star quality one associates with Hepburn. Nobody would call the aforementioned yellow dress simple or boring, but it hit the right amount of “enough.”Still, you can always rely on Siriano to bring two much-desired qualities to his presentations: size diversity and star power. To the latter point, Lindsay Lohan sat in the front row alongside Julia Stiles and Quinta Brunson, while Lohan’s siblings Dakota and Ali wore look 39 and 9, respectively. A fashion week family affair.
9 February 2023
For his pre-fall collection, Christian Siriano was thinking about sweet things. “This beautiful ombré silk is kind of my homage to caramel,” he said during an appointment, showing off a group of separates that included wide leg trousers worn with a blouse and a long capelet, as well as an easy halter dress. The liquid feel of the fabric added a sense of elegance to otherwise straightforward silhouettes.A group of pieces in an abstract silver jacquard print he described as “our kind of Hershey Kiss.” He had cut it into a slim-fitting spaghetti strap sheath with a high thigh slit, and into a bustier with a dramatic peplum and a pair of matching trousers. A silver and black laser-cut lace was transformed into separates as well: a bustier, a dramatic ankle-length circle skirt, as well as a crop top, and a sort of handkerchief skirt. “We show it together, but you could wear this with a pair of great black pants, or a great pair of jeans and a fun heel,” he said, holding up the bustier. “You could wear it out on New Year’s or to your holiday party or whatever—the idea is, how do you make evening feel versatile?”Siriano’s vision for the women who wear his clothes is exacting only in that it’s always glamorous. “We have so many different types of customers now; everybody wears my world a little differently, you know, and we have such an age range.” That’s not to say that he plays it safe, in fact; some of the best pieces of the collection fully gave into a sense of whimsy and fantasy. Dresses made from black velvet and baby pink silk appealed to a most primal vision of what an evening gown should be: one with a black bodice punctuated by pink ruffled cap sleeves and a sweeping mermaid shirt which ballooned at the drop waist was immediately captivating. A black velvet column dress was punctuated with a dramatic ruffled peplum at the hips, another at the knees, and another around the calves before pooling in a subtle ruffled-edge train—it was a minimalist vision for the maximalist at heart. “My last show we did at Elizabeth Taylor’s townhouse and it was such a magical thing that made me realize, ‘oh, I think people really miss the glamour.’ So I think I’m going to stick to it for a little bit longer.”
13 December 2022
There are few certainties in Fashion Week, but in recent years Christian Siriano putting on a capital-S show is one of them. The locationwillbe grand; celebritieswillbe in the front row; boldface modelswillwalk; and therewillbe enough gowns to outfit an entire black-tie wedding. Spring 2023 followed this formula: At Elizabeth Taylor’s former townhouse in Midtown, guests including Janet Jackson watched models like Karen Elson slowly walk down the ornate spiral staircase in XXL wide-brimmed hats and dresses with long trains.Siriano was one of the first designers to return to this vision of glamour following the start of the pandemic. Nostalgia is as strong a through line in his work as size inclusivity and ball skirts. But the location really drove this idea home this season. Siriano was thinking about Old Hollywood and its icons. “When Elizabeth Taylor’s former townhouse becomes available, you make that happen,” he said. “We really wanted to channel Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn tailoring and ask what’s the modern Marilyn, the modern Bianca Jagger?”While Siriano has been in a return-to-opulence mindset since staging a masked runway show outside in Connecticut in fall 2020, he says his customer is now fully caught up. “Our eveningwear has taken a huge uptick. We can’t make it fast enough.”So he gave the people what they want. The show opened with a series of tailored suits, which Siriano now makes in sizes up to 32. One in slate gray with a waist-cinching wide belt was particularly elegant. The drama arrived in full force with a blood red evening dress featuring a puffy peplum (which has become a Siriano signature) and a sheer torso and skirt, plus a hat that mirrored the waist detailing. Hard to imagine Marlene Dietrich or Marilyn Monroe wearing it, but it fits right in with the designer’s oeuvre.Restraint remains Siriano’s friend. The little black dresses—typically the rote-est of rote—stood out. One was a drop-waisted number with a bubble-hem tulle skirt and floral appliqué; another was a square-neck sleeveless midi with a voluminous, asymmetrical hemline. Both seemed to take cues from the other Hepburn (Audrey) but were rooted in the present day. A gown with a black velvet bodice and a bustled striped skirt was similarly directional and felt like a change from the more expected mountainous skirts, puffs of tulle, and feathers.
7 September 2022
Christian Siriano is back with another collection and, as usual, it’s time to party. While the fall collection was “Victorian Matrix” themed (latex, gingham, puffed sleeves), resort is pure Siriano: all evening wear, with plenty of ruffles and plenty of tulle. It’s sure to appease his party-bound clients. “We couldn’t be busier in our business, with all the events happening,” Siriano says. “Not only with brides, but people going out to events. It’s been wild.”The official inspiration was a 1950s tapestry owned by Siriano’s mother, but that almost feels beside the point when you’re looking at clothes that are so clearly just a part of the designer’s core identity. (Though if you are intrigued by the heirloom, Siriano turned it into a blue, pink, and green jacquard that’s most effective in a slim-fitting suit).Siriano classic ball skirts with mermaid trains look familiar, but bright tulle separates, and ladylike sheaths are a surprise. Siriano has collaborated with the conscious basics label Bleusalt, best known for their supersoft sweats, on a handful of evening pieces. Made from Bleusalt’s signature textile (Tencel Modal), Siriano’s separates come in black, white, and magenta. It’s the designer’s way of showing that your black tie clothing doesn’t have to be stuffy and uncomfortable—a point made by designers like Halston in the ’70s as well. An off-the-shoulder black column gown is right at home among the rest of Siriano’s finery, though it is simpler and slinkier.
20 June 2022
In a season when many marquee names are missing from the New York Fashion Week calendar, it’s easy to hem and haw over the fate of the runway. But Christian Siriano will do his best to convince you that celeb-filled front rows and exuberant catwalks won’t go the way of the dodo. “It’s why I still love fashion,” he said. “Without the shows and the glamour and the front row and all my great girls, this business really sucks.”The designer staged his fall 2022 collection on the concourse level of the Empire State Building tonight, with notable guests as wide-ranging as Drew Barrymore and Susan Sarandon, drag superstars Aquaria and Symone, and Tika the Iggy (an Instagram-famous dog that was fitted in a custom Siriano look that used fall 2022’s dark patent leather). The cast walking the runway was equally buzzy; Siriano favorites Karen Elson, Candice Huffine, and Coco Rocha opened and closed the show. But while those names were notable, half of the guests were Siriano’s loyal customers. “If they’re spending $200,000 a season, they should be here,” he said.What will those buyers purchase this season? Lots of blue. The designer followed a strict color palette and called the collection Victorian Matrix, meant to mirror the tension of the age we live in. He even asked in his show notes, “What is real anymore?” It’s a discombobulating inspiration, but despite that, the collection didn’t feel jumbled. In fact, the tension often made for intriguing clothes. Many of the ensembles were paired with shiny, Victorian-esque lace-up boots, for example, and Elson’s finale dress was made of a deep navy patent leather bodice and bolero with a coordinating tulle skirt. A sky blue billowing cape paired with a dark cutout dress, while not feeling either distinctly Victorian orMatrix-y, created interesting shapes and contrasts.While Siriano will likely never be a designer whose clothes whisper rather than shout—nor should he necessarily be, considering his legion of celebrity fans—his subtler looks were the best. These included a cerulean blue suit with a corseted waist, several sculptural blazers with flared hems, a midi-skirt suit in leather so shiny Neo would be proud, a floor-length trench with an attached scarf, and a powder blue leather dress with coordinating gloves.Similarly, streamlined silhouettes were effective when it came to his more experimental fabrics. Quilted denim looked peculiar as a bubble-hemmed crop top/hood, but smashing as a long coat with sculpted sleeves.
(Speaking of jeans, he continued his collaboration with Gloria Vanderbilt, first introduced in spring 2022, which resulted in some sharply tailored denim.)After Rocha commanded the room in a hooded, quilted lace ball gown for the finale, Siriano took his bow. He received a standing ovation. The dream of a catwalk lives to fight another day.
12 February 2022
Christian Siriano is in a nostalgic mood. He recently bought a house for his mother and was going through old photographs. “We used to have this living room in our old house that had this lipstick red, camel back sofa, with this mahogany furniture and damask curtains,” he said over Zoom. His muse? His sister, getting ready for school. “When she was 17, she worked in a couture hat store and she’d wear these huge hats and platform shoes and tutus and I’d be like, ‘Where are you going?’ And she was like, ‘This is how I dress.’ It was wild.”Siriano’s pre-fall collection was shot against a dark red background, channeling his youthful memories. His eccentric goth-leaning teenage sister pops up too, mainly in the form of ruffled peplums around the waist, but the lineup is otherwise focused on Siriano’s hits. “We’re a very event brand. Events are happening but we’re not sure what they’re wearing anymore. Is it suits? Is it cocktail? Is it full evening?” In turn, he showed a little bit of everything, from an easy, almost pajama-like silky red suit to a dress constructed of wavy, vertical layers of red, black, and white fabric.The collection also runs the gamut from classic to experimental. A tea-length red strapless dress, a floor-length gown with puff-sleeves and a leg slit, and a black A-line, full skirt dress with a puffy neckline all fall into the first category. The memorable looks from the collection all fall into the latter. Two of the dresses have moveable, moldable accoutrements that the wearer can manipulate depending on the look they’re going for. In the look book, they resemble bunny ears, and Siriano emphasized their convertibility. He also adapted the eye motif from Janelle Monaé’s outfit for the 2019 Camp-themed Met Gala into a black strapless dress. With two eyes splashed across the bust, it’s still attention-grabbing but more wearable than Monaé’s attire (not that that’s a high bar).The penultimate photo shows a red ball skirt paired with a sporty, ’90s inspired cut-out crop top. The juxtaposition between avant-garde and elegant is most successful in this pairing. The high-fashion bandeau has been trending on the red carpet, and it’s easy to imagine this look making an appearance during awards season.
18 November 2021
Christian Siriano showed his spring collection at Gotham Hall, the former Greenwich Savings Bank. Built during the Jazz Age, the super-size (at the time) building boasts an interior that borrows from the Old World, much as American fashion leaned on Paris then. On the floor there are mosaics; high up on the wall are carved sober statements such as, “Waste neither time nor money but use both to your own good and your neighbor’s good.” The sentiment seemed strangely at odds with the lavishness of the interiors—and with Siriano’s OTT creations.Yet this push-and-pull between restraint and self-expression, opulence and minimalism, mirrors the chaotic times we live in. Mixed messages are everywhere. We know we must consume less, yet are tempted by the thrill of being “extra” that a life led on camera and social media seems to demand. We’re enticed by a world in which everyone can be a star.Stardom is something Siriano knows a lot about. Not only does he dress stars for the red carpet; as aProject Runwaywinner he is a television star himself. When asked if he’s living the American Dream, the designer replies, “For sure. As a little boy I wanted to make clothes and be a fashion designer.” Et voila. Siriano wants to share the luck, and the love, by designing clothes for many types of women. He was casting “curve” models before the term existed, and he did so again today. Precious Lee opened and closed the show, which featured a live performance by Marina, and perched on a gold chair in the front row was Lil’ Kim, in ruffles that took up space. “We’re getting the most insane requests,” said Siriano who’s observed a pent-up demand for the escapist fantasy that fashion, particularly evening wear, can deliver. “I guess that’s what maybe inspired this collection to be a bit more than I would’ve done normally,” he said.The designer was looking at old family photos when creating this collection, and the power punch of orange he used was an homage to his Italian grandmother, the season’s muse. There wasn’t a lot of restraint in this collection, but when it appeared, in slim ’30s silhouettes, a suit with asymmetric lapels, or a white dress with attached marabou-trimmed scarf, it was memorable. The idea of two-piece dressing, a bra and pants, say, seems current. Siriano does an LBD nicely, and there were options for the flirt and the very daring. The more voluminous looks, especially those with gigantic ruffles, felt heavy and threatened to overwhelm the wearer.
(Though to be fair, looks that were only slightly less dramatic could be seen in the audience.)Siriano successfully communicated his starry-eyed approach to fashion, but the collection lacked a clear point of view. There were too many looks and a surfeit of variety. “There is no gain so sure as that which results from economizing what you have,” reads one of the mottos carved in stone at Gotham Hall. Wise words.
7 September 2021
With so few in-person runway presentations in New York this season, the pressure is on to make your show ashow. In Christian Siriano’s hot pink collection notes, placed on socially distanced chairs throughout the cavernous Gotham Hall, he wrote that he found it hard to find inspiration in a pandemic, but clung to the idea of a “psychedelic alternate reality.” And watching the tulle gowns, slinky party dresses, and sculptural statement pieces come down the runway really did feel like a trip to a fantasy land where dressing up was a normal, daily affair.“This is the fun, this is the glamour, this is what you dream of when you’re a little kid wanting to be a designer,” Siriano said of his decision to hold a show. “You take this away, you have a really hard business that’s all about money.”The show opened with four models—Teddy Quinlivan, Coco Rocha, Candice Huffine, and Martha Hunt—on mattresses placed throughout the crowd. They “awoke,” dressed in black undergarments and put on clothing from a rack. Rocha, ever the performer, was the first to walk down the runway, dressed in a white power coat with a cape-like back. Bam! Then the party started.Siriano says he was inspired by a trip to Aspen, Colorado, and what the denizens of his fictional province (dare we say, pod?) might wear to glamorous events there. The first looks clearly communicated the woodsy inspiration via nubby wool coats, gray plaids, and brown moiré. Even in these more practical pieces, a hedonistic vibe still remained, as in a white overcoat with four prominent cutouts at the waist and thigh.But the bulk of the collection was Siriano’s signature eveningwear, the sort of thing that’s made him such a recognizable name on red carpets. While there was a host of tulle, mesh skirts, and dramatic ruffles, several stood out from the pack. First, a slinky, one-sleeved lime green dress that looked like what a mountain dwelling hostess might wear. Then, a brick red column gown with a dramatic, high ruffled collar, styled with pink gloves. To close the show, Rocha wore a sculptural black dress reminiscent of the look Siriano created for Janelle Monaé at the 2019 Met Gala. Its heart-shaped skirt had pockets, as Rocha cheerfully demonstrated backstage.
26 February 2021
With everything going on in 2020, Christian Siriano didn’t intend on creating a pre-fall collection. After outfitting soon-to-be First Lady Dr. Jill Biden for the Democratic National Convention and giving Hollywood its election cycle fashion motif via a “Vote” print that turned up on the backs of Julia Roberts, Julianne Moore, and Lizzo, Siriano’s year has been eventful.Still, when style is what you live and breathe, not working is harder than giving in to the urge to create. “To be honest, I decided just to keep making clothes because it’s what I love to do,” Siriano shared over Zoom. “When I get up each day, that’s what I’m focused on—it’s not something you can fully take away. When I texted the team [about pre-fall], they responded in five minutes because everyone in our field wants to be able to work and do the things they love.”With that team and a few like-minded friends he set to work utilizing resources he had at his disposal. During uncertain times when demand is hard to gauge, sourcing from his archives seemed wiser than ordering new materials. “We didn’t buy anything,” says Siriano. “All the fabrics are things we either revamped or remade.” This environmentally-friendly (and budget-conscious) mindset posed a series of fresh questions: Which elements from previous collections are worthy of revisiting, and how do you avoid repetition while utilizing them? Which eveningwear pieces make sense in a world without nightlife? What exactly should one do with the remnants of a diminutive pop diva’s tulle skirt? “The piece with the eyes is part of what we’d originally made for Janelle Monaé at the 2019 Met Gala, and the skirt is from Ariana Grande’s Time 100 look,” he explains. “Every [element] is something that has been repurposed. Our brand is still very fancy and evening, but this season it’s also no-waste, and I love that.”With their “use what you’ve got” spirit these clothes had heart. Always in favor of a fabulous event dress, Siriano went all out with a canary yellow-tipped ball gown large enough to take up an entire room. After months of sweatpants, sneakers, and clothing centered on comfort, such flamboyance felt hopeful. No, there isn’t a party to attend right now, but in Siriano’s world, good times appear to be around the corner.
21 December 2020
Nostalgia is the siren of the present day. With many people isolating at home, the lure of memory is understandable. If anyone seems to indulge in a bit of nostalgia, it’s Christian Siriano.The designer was one of the very first in New York to turn his studio into a mask-making facility. The team has manufactured and donated almost a million face coverings so far. At the same time that Siriano was engaged in those good works, he was hunkering down in his new modern home in the coastal town of Westport, Connecticut. He cooked a lot, enjoyed his garden and local farmers markets, dove into his childhood comic collection, and rewatched some of his favorite movies, includingTroop Beverly Hills,Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,Clueless,andThe Wizard of Oz.Christian Siriano presented his spring collection in his backyard in Westport, Connecticut. Photo: Mike Coppola / Getty Images for Christian Siriano“It was kind of cool to see all those things come back to life,” said Siriano, who filtered his inspirations through his imagination into a collection that translated fairly recent fashion history for a young, fun-loving audience. Poufs, asymmetric hems, bra tops, and a jazzy paint-stroke print brought back the 1980s; there were also some references that seemed derivative of more recent couture shows. Siriano attributes the many ’80s and ’90s touches to his film list. “I like that,” he said post-show, “because it reminded me of when I was growing up wanting to be a fashion designer—that’s kind of what inspired everything.”If Siriano’s idea of glamour is somewhat traditional, he made inclusivity a core value of his brand early on, regularly casting models of different backgrounds, sizes, and ages, as he did again today when he presented his spring 2021 show in the backyard of his home. Models in high heels fromSarah Jessica Parker’s line walked over bridges spanning the pool and around the lawn, and were watched by an audience, most of whom had been Lyfted in from New York and were seated six feet apart. “I wanted this to be an escape for everybody—fantasy, to have fun with fashion,” the designer said.
17 September 2020
It’s rare to see an entire front row actuallybeamingat a fashion show, but we can thank Leslie Jones for that. To say theSaturday Night Livestar was excited to be at Christian Siriano was an understatement; she cheered and waved as Coco Rocha sauntered down the runway (to the point where the model could hardly keep a straight face); clapped for her favorite looks, of which there were many; and even jumped out of her seat with excitement on a few occasions. There were other celebrities in attendance, but Jones is Siriano’s realest, most genuine fan; he’s been dressing her for years, starting in 2016 after she complained that no designer was willing to create looks for herGhostbusterstour. He was happy to change that.Siriano was designing with size inclusivity before it was a buzzword, and his shows are the best-case scenario, where you don’t even notice the diversity of shapes and sizes on his runway; the models just look confident and glamorous. That came through best in the looks that didn’t feel quite so tied to the collection’s theme,Birds of Prey, the Margot Robbie–fronted film that premieres tomorrow. The movie sponsored Siriano’s show, and items from the set had been shipped to Spring Studios for the decor. Heavy metal played on the soundtrack, and Robbie’s character, Harley Quinn, was the obvious inspiration for the models’ rainbow-streaked hair and heart-shaped beauty marks.The collection had a rebellious, punkish feeling to it, with its darker palette, leather chokers, and lots of shine. It was a hard pivot from the bright hues and soft silhouettes of past collections, and in some cases the contrast was jarring; see the supersized finale looks, which were more like sculptures than actual clothing. Other looks failed to capture the true antiheroine spirit of Quinn’s character, like a chocolate midi-dress trimmed with a few marabou feathers. It was a lengthy show, and some of those middle-of-the-road garments could have been edited out. But Siriano’s customer will be happy about the simpler, more body-skimming propositions here, like a trio of draped stretch-satin gowns in a luminous shade of rose.
7 February 2020
Serenity is the new luxury. A year of frenzied schedules and alarmist news has many craving the calming effects of simplicity, and this season Christian Siriano is one of them. The designer knows a thing or two about the 24-hour work cycle—his pre-fall showings fell days before the premiere ofProject Runway—and as such, he gravitated toward tranquil themes. Interiors, particularly the work of Giancarlo Valle, the architect and interior designer whose studio specializes in artsy spaces with lived-in charm, served as the starting point for a stripped-down collection of separates in shades of slate, cream, and black. The lineup was a 180 from his vibrant Ashley Longshore–influenced spring look, and the change felt significant. A reflection of both his current mood and pre-fall’s increased retail importance, the switch to neutrals was a departure.Without punchy color to add vigor to his designs, Siriano relied on interesting fabrications and techniques to spice up the wealth of black and beige. The tactile pleasure of knits with teddy bear texture or faux-fur crop tops is instantly evident, but the real fun came via croc-stamped miniskirts and matching blazers with ’80s-style wide collars and puffed sleeves. Transparency added oomph to basic black, and pants, skirts, and corsets were all offered in see-through versions. The trick to neutrals is offering something that isn’t already hanging in a customer’s closet, and except for standards like marabou-accented cocktail dresses, Siriano did just that.With awards season looming, Siriano used pre-fall to update his vision for after-hours. Given that he’s best known for outfitting his coterie of famous muses in high-drama pieces that require little extra adornment, his outlook seemed comparatively subdued. White columns fit for the bridal season, sweeping black gowns with bell sleeves and high collars, and the occasional flourish of tulle ruffles in smoke gray or millennial pink made for a collection that aimed for glamour that avoided ostentation. After seasons focused on excess, that may be just the palate-cleanser Siriano and his customers are craving.
9 December 2019
These days, the runway calls for a spectacle and no one understands that better than Christian Siriano. Want to look at clothes? Book a studio appointment. Want to see Coco Rocha saunter through a wealth of Ashley Longshore paintings as the artist touches up a canvas? Then go to Siriano’s Spring show.This season, the designer met his match in Longshore, the New Orleans gallerist and painter whose contemporary take on the pop culture portrait has made her an art world star. Her work reimagines the powerful in neon and pastel, so naturally, Siriano requested that she capture some of his favorites in their element. “I love her use of color and texture, that mix of playfulness and seriousness,” he said of the oversize images of Laverne Cox, Lady Gaga, and Frida Kahlo that Longshore updated throughout the show. “I think of her as a modern-day Warhol; it’s so beautiful to watch artists paint, and they get inspired by designers as well, so I wanted us to feed off each other.”The painterly motif worked well with a collection that concerned itself with hue and fabrication. Though there was a “safe” section of black separates and a slate gray eye print that appeared on several pieces, the bulk of the offering was vividly bright. Seafoam green metallic blazers, iridescent jackets with a duo-chrome effect, and hot pink minidresses all featured, but the rainbow lamé stole the show. A balloon-sleeved number on model Maria Borges was a Technicolor dream coat worthy of a celebrity extrovert.3-D touches like a textured lace designed to look like pursed lips continued the Pop Art theme, but the cinema wasn’t far from Siriano’s imagination. His most important season isn’t Spring or Fall, it’s the November to January film awards rush. Regardless of how one views his frills, in the context of the red carpet, they make perfect sense. A wardrobe centered on seizing your moment is a concept Hollywood can get behind, and as such, Siriano’s last 10 looks played like a “for your consideration” promo. Transparent tulle gowns with built-in corsetry, sequined fringe, and a stately tulle tuxedo would all be ideal for accepting a hard-earned statuette.
7 September 2019
A recent trip to the Atelier Brâncuși at Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris left an impression on Christian Siriano. While taking in Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși’s creations in the replica of his studio space Siriano began to think about Resort 2020 and the mood he wanted to evoke. “I wanted to use those gold and rust shades that feature in his work,” Siriano said at his Upper West Side headquarters. “That’s where a lot of the colors and shapes we used come from, even the silhouettes we did this season are sculptural.”The warm tones and dresses with dramatic curvature called to mind Brâncuși’s style, but Siriano didn’t waste time on overt references. Save for a crinkled goddess dress that nodded to the artist’s love of Roman mythology and gold eyelet looks that mimicked some of his rough-hewn textures, the collection was rooted in the moment. Women want versatile separates with a touch of mirth, and Siriano gave them just that. French painter Gee-Gee Collins received a shout out, her abstract portraits provided the inspiration for a face print that made its way onto long-sleeved crop tops and double-breasted blazers with portrait collars.The museum moment allowed for the introduction of new fabrications like ombre pleated silk and a metallic jersey knit that clung to models’ bodies and revised versions of the outré evening silhouettes Siriano specializes in. There were still ballgowns—including a glittering white number that verged into bridal territory—but many looks were broken into separates to give clients a range of styling options. Voluminous ruffled skirts were attached to corseted tops and paired with pants, while a navy overcoat accented with layers of tulle made for an arresting statement. Even the classic midi-dress received a playful update thanks to a watercolor print of beachgoers frolicking in their Speedos.
7 June 2019
Christian Sirianolikes to take his audience on a trip, and Fall meant a jaunt to Midtown and the top of Rockefeller Center. Though the logistics proved difficult—fussy fashion guests always object to a queue, and getting everyone into their seats took patience—the 360 views of the Manhattan skyline and Raymond Hood’s Art Deco architecture complimented the collection. Futurism through the eyes of the society set served as the theme. Party girls are always going to need something to wear; Siriano intends to give it to them. “The idea was, if we’re living in another futuristic world, what would the social calendar be like?” he quipped backstage. “How would people dress and where would they go?"A knee-length silver faux fur on Chanel Iman kicked off a space-age panoply of looks that were Ruby Rhod meets Judy Jetson. In Siriano’s vision of the future, extroverts have overthrown the earth, so the pieces in his show that were most forward-looking tended to be statement-making. Peplum dresses in liquid metal fabric, cropped puffer coats that defied winter logic, and jumpsuits with a “cosmic” stripe that resembled wood grain were all appealing. The visual signatures of Siriano’s woman are by now readily apparent, and her confident presence was all over his Fall offerings. Case in point: Upon seeing Iman in her sparkle,Orange Is the New Blackstar Danielle Brooks summed up audience feelings with an apt “Ooh there she is!”Familiarity is a blessing and a curse. Siriano comes full circle this year with a return toProject Runway, the series that gave him his first push towards household name status. In the years since his television debut he hasn’t lost his enthusiasm for outfitting women of all shapes, sizes, and walks of life in decadent fashion, but he has refined his aesthetic considerably. Still not a minimalist by any stretch, he’s hit a sweet spot with red carpet fare and dramatic suiting. Fall’s foray into sci-fi territory allowed for silhouettes that were a step outside that glamorous comfort zone. There will always be room for ruffles and a full skirt on his runway, but Ashley Graham’s mod mesh gown covered in crystals and accented by a silver cap was an editorial moment that bodes well for the future.
9 February 2019
If you head to Provence, you’ll find yourself immersed in a world of lavender. The French province is famous for the bloom, and tourists flock to see it growing in a violet wave from the peaks of Mont Ventoux onward. For Christian Siriano, the natural beauty of the region had a lasting effect, one that gave his Pre-Fall collection its bold color palette and theme. Siriano used the shade to great effect, working it into every other look. If that feels excessive, you’ll just have to deal with it. “You either love it or hate it,” he shared at his uptown boutique. “This was the first time I’ve really used lavender, so I decided that I was just going to go for it.”There’s a gusto to Siriano’s approach that makes it appealing. The color of kings, queens, and Prince, purple provokes a strong reaction, and Siriano used it to highlight his most daring pieces. Presented on the back ofWestworldactress Angela Sarafyan, whom he dressed for this year’s Emmys, the expansive ball gowns and ruffled minidresses work, especially when they veer into over-the-top territory. Bombastic fashion has always been Siriano’s specialty, and the decadence of a dress with three tiers of satin frippery makes sense within his world.Everyday basics without pomp and circumstance provide the greater challenge, but here he offered another first. Polka dots may be standard fare, but it is one motif he’s avoided in the past; this time around he offered a variety, from oversize to barely visible, worked into casual separates as a means of spicing things up. A cream knit blazer dotted with flecks of plum and glossy PVC midi skirts paired with matching boots were nice, but there’s a chance Siriano’s lighthearted customer skips all that for the madcap fun of lavender tulle and crystals.
7 December 2018
The starting point of Christian Siriano’s Spring 2019 collection may have been Hawaii, but he has yet to pay the Aloha State a visit. With his jam-packed schedule preventing him from taking an extended break, he brought the vacation vibes to his runway. “I wanted to go, but I didn’t have time during this crazy summer,” he shared backstage. “[Instead,] I’m going to do this fantasy of what it would be like and take everyone into my dream world.” Focused on the easygoing mood that typifies the island lifestyle rather than direct points of reference, Siriano skipped the grass skirts and luau stereotypes that are often associated with the locale. Instead, he offered a lively exploration of his signature look, i.e. ladylike ready-to-wear with unapologetic frippery.Though there was the occasional casual piece—Cynthia Nixon received a ringing endorsement via a fitted T-shirt and skirt covered in palm fringe—the trainers and track pants set will have to look elsewhere this season as Siriano’s holiday plans involve plenty of dressing up. A black gown with a hothouse flower print and a thigh-high slit on model Joss Corona kicked things off, and what followed was a sultry series of dresses and separates. With formfitting leopard prints, transparent python toppers, and models in towering platform shoes, the look was sexy. Midriff-baring jackets in neon green and sheer menswear mesh that left little to the imagination added to the revealing segment, but it wasn’t all skin.Hawaii was the jumping-off point, but New York grounded the affair in reality. With Nixon seated front row and pamphlets encouraging guests to vote in the upcoming gubernatorial election, the city’s politics loomed large within the collection. For Siriano, Nixon’s message meshed with the inclusive spirit of his collections. “I think what she’s doing is [also] what I’m trying to do,” he said. “We’re trying to support all these different types of people, cultures, and women, and I wanted to put it out there and support her.”The second half of the show provided plenty of options for a politician on the rise. Siriano ended the vacation early with a segue into stately eveningwear. A high-neck wrap dress worn over trousers struck the right chord as did a white suit covered in crystals. On a few looks, the embellishments were unwieldy—green ruffles mimicking a lei felt overwrought—but he quickly righted things with a neon gown fit for an inaugural gala.
9 September 2018
Has Christian Sirano met his match? After pulling out all the stops for his stately 10th anniversary show in February, Resort found the designer in the mood for levity and a brand-new muse. “Fall was more serious—as it should be—but I wanted this to feel fun,” shared Siriano at his new retail space on West 54th Street. “We just went for it; it’s pink, girly—it’s Barbie.” Siriano found inspiration in the doll’s pastel aesthetic and the vintage advertisements depicting her adventures. Creating clothes for women who like to keep things sweet even as they switch from day to evening, he delivered a Mattel-approved vision of femininity—minus the plastic shoes. The end results seemed made for pop culture’s iconic blondes; crop tops in blush plaid worn with matching skirts channeledClueless, while metallic suits with fabric that changed from magenta to teal were pure Elle Woods. Even Carrie Bradshaw, who loved a tulle tutu, seemed to get a shout-out.Barbie may have had a myriad of careers over the years—paratrooper, astronaut, and yoga instructor among them—but Siriano focused on the toy’s glamour-puss appeal. Going for the glitz of Nolan Miller–worthy ruffled shoulder embellishments, lengthy ombré tulle trains, and a wealth of puffy sleeves, he gave the collection an ’80s undercurrent. For some, the plethora of pink will appear too saccharine. But those who feel comfortable giving in to their inner Barbie will find plenty to enjoy, and as evidenced by Whoopi Goldberg’s magenta Siriano look at the CFDA Awards, that audience is likely bigger than it seems. As for the rest? Well, there’s always next season.
11 June 2018
“I think after this show today I’m just proud of what we have done,” shared Christian Siriano after his Fall 2018 collection debut. “I’m proud to celebrate people from all walks of life on the runway and bring the world of glamour back.” Siriano has plenty to celebrate. With the 10th anniversary of his self-named collection, Siriano has hit a milestone few young designers can claim. Handling the progression from reality upstart to red carpet favorite with a flair few could match, he’s been on a roll of late, cultivating a fanbase marked by its diversity. At the Grand Lodge this afternoon, ’90s rom-com queen Meg Ryan, rapper Cardi B, and trans activist Laverne Cox all sat in the front row, a lineup that illustrates the breadth of women drawn to Siriano’s gilded take on glamour.Much like greatest-hits compilations, anniversary collections aren’t as much about the creator as they are about the fans. Distilling years worth of work down to the well loved signatures means understanding exactly what your brand is about. For Siriano, that meant revisiting his hallmarks: from ladylike separates rendered in shimmering fabric to ball gowns of the epic variety. Starting with Ashley Graham in a crimson faux fur coat cinched with a matching red belt and leading to a section of vampy numbers worn with thigh-high boots or barely-there stilettos, Siriano kept the vibe sexy. He played with texture via cruelty-free materials before delving into a series of evening looks created in crystal-covered velvet. Metallic jacquard drama was also on the agenda.Given that Siriano was ahead of the curve when comes to body-positive fashion (and when it comes to using the red carpet as a platform for more than prettiness), he couldn’t resist adding in a few empowering messages into the mix. HisPeople are Peoplemantra found its way onto tote bags and the range of ages, body types, and backgrounds on his catwalk continues to be impressive. Sending actress Selma Blair down the runway in a catsuit covered in script, he nodded to Time’s Up. “That Selma look was really inspired by her celebrating her body, her power in this world,” said Siriano. “She was one of the first women to come forward during the #MeToo movement and I felt like was important to put her in a powerful look that she felt amazing in.”It’s that emotional connection to the clothes that serves as Siriano’s biggest selling point.
Though the flamboyant gowns of his grand finale may have veered too close to the familiar, with shapes echoing everything from vintage De la Renta to current Saint Laurent, they elicited cries of pleasure from the audience. As Danielle Brooks breezed past onlookers in a turquoise slip dress with a twirl of her cape, the energy within the room was palpable. That collective optimism bodes well for the future.
11 February 2018
Christian Siriano didn’t have to look far for his Pre-Fall inspiration. When he happened upon a vintage portrait of his mother, Joye, dressed in full 1970s mufti, Siriano was moved to explore the decade. It is among the most referenced time periods in fashion, which makes it all the harder for a collection based on its signatures to feel distinctive. Siriano avoided this pitfall by keeping things personal, i.e., he skipped the leisure suits and bell-bottoms and interpreted the idea of ’70s glamour his own way.While you’ll find disco-appropriate wide lapels, denim separates, and androgynous suits that nodded to Bianca and Mick Jagger’s penchant for tuxedo dressing here, the majority of what was offered stayed true to Siriano’s ladylike aesthetic. As a season that spends months on the sales floor, Pre-Fall often aims to please the Siriano multitudes, and the designer headed in multiple directions in order to address key segments of his clientele. The result was a lineup of crowd-pleasers; it’s hard to argue with a little black jumpsuit covered in sequins or streamlined sheaths in shades of vibrant cobalt blue. Indulging in a few moments of drama—awards season is right around the corner, after all—several red carpet looks made an appearance as well. With full-skirted silver gowns and dainty tea-length pieces adorned with shimmering bows destined to make their way onto his celebrity roster, Siriano has a busy few months ahead of him, but the real fun may be on the horizon.As his brand heads into its 10th year next fall, the designer plans an anniversary collection with oomph. As pretty as his Pre-Fall skewed, its subdued color palette and pared-down vibe seemed slightly out of step with his reputation for unabashed vibrancy. Even with plenty of elegant looks to choose from, things could have benefited from a little added zest.
19 December 2017
Everyone should see a fashion show with Leslie Jones at least once. TheSNLalum thoroughly enjoyed her time at Christian Siriano’s Spring 2018 show and her raucous enthusiasm for each piece helped to bring the audience to its feet. Jones’s audibleoohsas each model sauntered down the runway were the opposite of the blank stares you’ll see at most fashion events, and no one could fault her for an enthusiastic reaction this season. Siriano delivered a strong collection filled with looks destined for awards shows, film premieres, and any event where there’s a red carpet. Think of it this way: If you’re in need of ball gown with sizzle, an eyelet-covered power suit, or just about anything with a flounce, he’s got you covered.Coco Rocha stomping out in zesty-colored, head-to-toe brocade set the tone for what followed—an effervescent take on the classics. Focusing his attentions on vibrant shades of lime, magenta, and bottle-blue, Siriano punctuated sweeping black gowns with cascading trains featuring pops of color, then provided monochromatic dresses and jumpsuits with similarly extravagant proportions. Other designers may be focusing on formfitting styles, but Siriano has always been a proponent of volume. The collection’s standouts all played with the idea; from the puffed sleeves of a metallic floral blouse to a saffron halter-neck gown large enough to fit a whole second look beneath its full skirt, it was go big or go home.The combination of the extreme silhouettes, audience participation, and models who engaged in an impromptu posing session on the catwalk made for an experience with oomph—exactly what Siriano was going for. “I wanted to make it powerful this season and really give it to you,” he shared backstage postshow, though he admitted the events that transpired were spontaneous. “It was a feel-good moment—none of this was planned—but when Coco started, it just turned into everyone. Sometimes when the models are feeling the clothes, they just go for it.” Of course, Jones and Rocha weren’t the only surprises this season, adding genderless design into his repertoire with playful pieces that don’t require a pronoun, Siriano expanded his vision to include everyone.
9 September 2017
Has Christian Siriano gone art house? It would seem that even a designer known for making fashion accessible can’t resist the appeal of esoteric cinema. Nodding to Luchino Visconti with a Resort collection inspired by his 1971 Thomas Mann adaptation,Death in Venice, Siriano picked a plum reference point for the season. With its beachfront setting and sumptuous Maria Fanetti costumes, the film promotes luxury escapism even when it leads to tragedy. Of course you’ll find none of its melancholy drama within Siriano’s upbeat collection. Focusing on the whimsy of Edwardian dressing and the androgyne chic of the protagonist’s obsession, Tadzio, Siriano delivered ruffled blouses, seafaring stripes, and a wealth of pastels.Adapting the era’s key visuals—decorative necklines, full skirts with a hint of bustle, and bows galore—with unexpected textures, Siriano avoided direct homage. Though oversized straw boater hats and built-in corsetry belong to the past, his use of metallics provided a welcome touch of futurism. Delivered in flashy gold, the puffed sleeves and fitted trousers were more Ziggy Stardust than Gibson girl, and those moments of pop cultural mélange added excitement.With over 40 looks there was plenty to take in, but the highlights all played with ideas about past and present. Mixed with Siriano’s signature ball gowns and crystal covered frippery were moments of streamlined beauty that merged his theme with a modern sensibility sure to appeal to clients.
10 June 2017
The arrival of wedding season has been a long time coming for Christian Siriano. He’s been designing wedding gowns since the early days of his business, but Spring ’18 marks just his second official bridal outing. After debuting last April exclusively with Kleinfeld (ofSay Yes to the Dressfame), Siriano is now expanding his bridal line to include looks sold beyond the retailer’s walls. This time, “It was less about the trends,” he said, “and more what our customer really wants.” For Siriano’s brides, that means romance in every sense of the word; a varied price range that starts at $3,500 and tops out around $17,000; and an inclusive approach to sizing, with some dresses going up to size 26.Siriano’s wedding business also has a growing celebrity following, includingOrange Is the New Blackactress Samira Wiley, who wore a custom off-the-shoulder crop top and ball skirt to her wedding toOITNBwriter and producer Lauren Morelli in March. Fans quickly began asking Siriano for similar styles, so for Spring ’18 he designed a silk faille midriff top and a matching full skirt. Other bridal separates include a dazzling tulle cape covered in crystals and pearls, which Siriano smartly paired with a silk crepe jumpsuit befitting a minimalist who dreams of wearing pants to the party à la Morelli. (Her bridal jumpsuit was a custom Siriano, too.)There were also more traditional dresses here. Siriano placed an emphasis on frothy tulle skirts and textured embroidered bodices. Not that a bride should have to choose: He combined both in one multitiered confection that gradually shifted from white to ivory, creating an interesting ombré effect. The blended mix of colors felt quietly unexpected, while the volume and fluff placed the silhouette firmly in fairy-tale territory. The underskirt construction alone took weeks to complete; as the designer concisely put it, “These girls take time.”
19 April 2017
The democratization of luxury has become a recurring theme in fashion, and with his latest collection,Christian Sirianoaimed to push the idea one step further. Mixing in affordable collaborations with mall brands and limited-edition pieces with proceeds donated to the ACLU, Siriano addressed both the political situation and the desire for attainable fashion in his own way. Inspired by a restorative trip to Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park, the designer felt that in troubled times audiences require a respite from reality. “The last couple months I needed a break, and driving through the park you feel like you’re in a dream,” he said backstage. “I wanted everyone out there to kind of take 20 minutes to just dream. There is a lot going on in the world, but for a moment you can take yourself out of it.”Opening your show with a fur-clad Alek Wek stomping through the gilded halls of the Plaza Hotel is one way to inspire dreamers, and Siriano made good on his promise of an illusory experience. With ’90s favorites Alicia Silverstone and Juliette Lewis mingling with YouTube star Gigi Gorgeous and the well-heeled cast ofOrange Is the New Black, the event had the frenetic energy of a fever dream, and often the clothes did too. Offering up frosted textured velvet jackets, flowing copper-colored tunics, and billowing overcoats embellished with dangling pieces of curved steel, Siriano delivered a compelling blend of high and low. Those metallic jumpsuits and fringed gowns may be destined for the red carpet, but the shoes were Payless.Combining accessibility with luxury has become one of Siriano’s signatures, but this season the focus skewed toward the sumptuous. Gowns were covered in artfully embroidered cranes or layers of fringe and marabou to create looks that ranged from showgirl to simply showy. The variety on display meant there was something for everyone, fans of ’70s-style ombré sequins and puff-sleeved Victoriana can finally unite, but it led to a lack of cohesion. Still, Siriano’s clientele is certain to be happy. By the time Jasmine Poulton set foot on the runway wearing a “People Are People” slogan T-shirt that elicited cheers, the audience was too.
11 February 2017
A Polish painter of ballerinas, Victorian portraiture, and illustrations of birds all hung on Christian Siriano’s mood board for Pre-Fall. But the inspiration is neither here nor there when it comes to Siriano’s business and design ethos. His motives are clear: Create a collection that lives as happily on the sales floor as it does on the backs of women who adore him, from Christina Hendricks to Neve Campbell to Leslie Jones.In those arenas, Siriano can mark Pre-Fall a success. A tie-sleeve day dress has hanger appeal for ladies of all ages and shapes, as do the classicist LBDs of all cuts that make up a small portion of the collection. His red carpet clientele will be well taken care of in a blush pink belted gown or slate blue number with a full skirt. Somewhere in between, though, the message of the collection veered off. For someone who excels at refined daywear with a little flair—exactly the trait that made him popular with First Lady Michelle Obama recently—the collection edged into overdone territory with a little too much wow and too little why. Remarkably oversize bows and electric, baby pink tulle turned overly sweet, while a brief stint in Lurex stripes and ruffles felt out of place amid the ladylike romanticism many of Siriano’s looks conjured.At a preview, the designer noted that pre-seasons actually make up the bulk of his business as they sit in stores longer, which was the main impetus for including more looks than ever before in this season’s collection. His expansive goals could benefit from a bit of editing. The good news is that the few missteps in Pre-Fall don’t matter much at the end of the day; if Siriano’s glamorous celebrity clientele bite, so, most likely, will shoppers.
7 December 2016
Christian Siriano is on the rise and he knows it. In the lead-up to his Spring 2017 show, he made headlines for dressing Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention and stepping up when Leslie Jones tweeted that no designer would dress her for theGhostbusterspress tour. He kept up the momentum with his Spring collection, notable not just for the variety of silhouettes shown on the runway but also for the models who wore it. In a decision that is still surprisingly rare in the fashion industry, Siriano cast models of all body types and ethnicities to strut in his Capri-inspired line. Several times throughout the show, the audience broke out into applause as a plus-size model walked. For the designer, the choice to include a variety of sizes wasn’t just politically correct but reflective of his customer base as well—in the front row were the voluptuous Christina Hendricks, the classic Neve Campbell, the sylphlike Coco Rocha, and a pregnant Leigh Lezark.Those women and their real-world counters come to Siriano mostly for occasionwear. Here, he showed cerulean, tangerine, and black numbers that ranged from an elegant robe dress to a cute flared midi with a button-front. Siriano’s penchant for drama produced overwrought flou that read a little heavy, as did the awkward layering of bra tops over shirting in the show’s portion of daywear looks. No mind, a beaded multicolored minidress in a chevron print made up for any overdone details. Siriano’s muses will have to battle it out for who gets to wear that look on the red carpet.
11 September 2016
Resort foundChristian Sirianotaking a gleeful romp through Parisian patisseries—or at least, the most-heightened notion of them. His was a saturated imagining of rows of macarons, petit fours, and other pastel confections.Siriano’s perennially feminine mores here got a shot of mid-century appeal; a handful of nipped waists and full skirts had more than a hint of the retro about them, particularly when rendered in blushing, interiors-esque florals. On his mood board, he was quick to point out a so-bad-it’s-sort-of-good, fusty ’50s living room.In recent seasons, the designer’s more full-throttle uses of color, texture, and print have been performing well (the finale look from his debut bridal collection, with an ombré skirt that dissolved into shocking pink, has been the best seller of the bunch). Enter for Resort fabrications like his iridescent jacquard, transparent overlays, and some of the more eccentric volumes in his daywear.Still, Siriano’s got a most conservative clientele to think of, too; he continues to do a brisk business in both the Middle East and the American South. For those customers of every age, he put together modest-but-modern pieces that revealed just a touch, like a fuchsia evening gown with subtle shoulder cutouts.
9 June 2016
Knitwear for evening? This was the somewhat questionable premiseChristian Sirianopursued with his Fall 2016 collection, inspired by American artist Sheila Hicks’s yarn and knit-based works. In the red carpet designer’s hands, however, even chunky knits became something sexy and feminine. Take, for instance, a knit contraption that was wrapped enticingly around the collarbone to form a midriff-baring crop top. Elsewhere, the inspiration showed up in a subtler fashion, as digital prints on gray and citrine formfitting dresses with carwash pleats, and as twisted rope decals on python knee-high boots.“I wanted it to still feel like my woman, and be romantic and a little bit sexy, but I also think there’s some newness here,” said Siriano. To wit, the designer chose to close his show with a handful of dramatic suits in bright red and yellow. “I wanted to change it up a little,” said Siriano. “To show that evening doesn’t have to be a gown.” But you can never escape who you really are: Many of the jackets were cut so that they had a long billowy, almost ballgown-like train. It was the best of both worlds.Still, Siriano excels most when he sticks to what he knows best. His forays into more casual daywear—like a look consisting of wide-leg stripe pants, a sequin top, and furry belted vest—didn’t quite make the mark. On the other hand, a number of his gowns—such as a slinky slip with mixed size pailettes and sequins, a plunging yellow gown, and a two-piece ruffled skirt and top—elicited longing sighs from the audience. No doubt those pieces will find their way onto the backs of some of Siriano’s local fans likeJamie KingandLeigh Lezark, who were both sitting front row.
13 February 2016
Bianca Jagger is never a bad place to start, and for Pre-Fall, Christian Siriano channeled Mick’s former wife, as well as the nocturnal glamour of Helmut Newton images. Jagger’s certain brand of aristocratic flair sprung to life in spruce black-and-white styles, like a long-sleeved sheath with delicate buttons down one arm. Elsewhere were dramatic ensembles in black silk-satin and flared trousers that came laced with fringe and sheer stripes or shot through with gold Lurex.Eveningwear, the cornerstone of Siriano’s business, has evolved some as the designer sees a growing demand from his clientele for nighttime separates; just the other day, Lupita Nyong’o was spotted in a matching top and trouser combo from his Spring lineup. Here, he proposed lovely suiting in magenta silk faille (Jagger would approve), a cropped jacket decked out in heaps of shaggy ribbon trim, and a satin capelet scattered all over with glossy black cabochons and teamed with matching trousers. One of the best looks of the lot had a darkly bewitching kind of Old Hollywood charm to it: a mock-neck black gown with a full overskirt of tulle in ombré shades of smoke.
16 December 2015
The North African playground of Morocco is oft-mined territory for fashion designers: Its exotic textiles and rich cultural landscape stole the heart ofYves Saint Laurent, andAlber Elbazpaid homage to the ancient land (also his birthplace) forLanvin’s sumptuous Fall 2015 show. But fast-forward a generation or two to New York City–based designerChristian Siriano, whose Spring 2016 show mapped a fantasy road trip taking in Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangier, and Fez through his glamorous West Coast lens. “It was about the dream of Morocco. I researched traditional interiors and architecture, including many different mosques,” said Siriano. He stripped back the vibrant palette of the Berbers in favor of optic white, blush, and sandy-toned silks cut into his signature structured shifts and a slew of floaty tunics matched with pencil skirts or fluid palazzo pants.Amid the flounce of handkerchief hems and cocktail dresses in body-con knit, Siriano applied an intricate textural play of pom-poms, fringing, and a geometric tiled jacquard that reflected his inspiration with a somewhat heavy hand. Later on, he tipped the scales in his favor when translating those tropes into the more familiar territory of eveningwear, where pleated goddess gowns and a frothy tulle pinafore injected a welcome lightness. It is from those looks that Siriano’s front row fixturesChristina HendricksandOrange Is the New Blackstar Laura Prepon might choose their next red carpet moment: a marabou-flecked ball skirt perhaps, or one of the gowns encrusted in scalloped peach sequins. Despite their couture touch, even those showstoppers paled in comparison to four finale looks that emerged with satin trains in eye-watering pastel silks—those were the welcome color shock this collection needed from the get-go.
12 September 2015
Christian Siriano's customer is the life of the party, whether she's attending a black-tie gala or a gossipy lunch. The designer made that notion very clear on Wednesday, when he hosted a Resort presentation-meets-cocktail fete at a friend's swank Soho loft. The models sure seemed as though they were enjoying themselves, decked out in the season's frothy, sherbet-colored gowns and separates.Mid-century historian Peter Moruzzi's bookPalm Springs Holidaywas the starting point. "But I didn't want it to look old, even if it had a vintage feel," Siriano explained. He managed to strike a balance that felt inclusive, not alienating, through wide-leg satin trousers in sunny yellow, a monkey-floral print suit, and a stripy scarf gown that magically whittled in the waist. Along with his newly launched, just-retro-enough line of sunglasses, Siriano also introduced matching handbags and shoes, which will be developed further for Spring.In person, the favorite look was a strapless gown with a fan-out pouf in the front: It was reminiscent of Peaches 'n Cream Barbie in the best possible way. Siriano's work is strongest when he ignores trends and simply designs clothes his clients will love to wear. He accomplished that this season.
3 June 2015
It doesn't matter what time of year it is: Christian Siriano's client wants color. And lots of it! So that's what he gave her, inspired by a dream trip to the Congo rain forest. (Siriano hasn't made it there just yet.) "She's not shopping for another black coat," he said backstage before the show. "It has to be something that she almost hasn't seen before."To achieve that, Siriano worked quite a bit with patterns and texture. His fancy-lady day looks were heavy on the animal print: There was a sleeveless sheath dress in tiger cashmere, and a flouncy number in zebra crepe. He also used fuzzy alpaca in wine-red and camel to create cozy, multidimensional turtleneck dresses and topcoats.For evening, he went with traditional ball gown silhouettes but did them up in floral taffetas and ombré chevron. Some of them felt played out, like the crop top and full-skirt set, and an off-the-shoulder number that sort of bulged at the tummy from under a belt. But others were inspired, including a belted blue-and-brown taffeta coat with bell sleeves. The pieces decorated with black and white ostrich feathers were a big success: They floated down the runway as beautifully as they will the red carpet. Just to even it all out, Siriano threw in a black silk illusion-wrap gown. Despite how subtle it was compared to the rest of the collection, the fit guaranteed that it'll garner attention.Sure, the 47-look collection could've used an edit, but when it worked, it worked really, really well.
14 February 2015
International woman of mystery? Not a bad jumping-off point for a Pre-Fall debut, and it was Greta Garbo's turn as Mata Hari that Christian Siriano looked to when designing his latest collection. (He's added this season to his calendar to suit the needs of his many customers in warmer climes—e.g., Dallas, Abu Dhabi—who might typically skim over a Fall offering.) Mata Hari may have been a figure of questionable repute, but Siriano zeroed in on the famous exotic dancer-cum-spy's costumes as interpreted for a 1931 audience: sex appeal sans much skin, exploring the sensual potential of high necklines and long sleeves. Where both gowns and separates were concerned, Siriano emphasized the quietly erotic—a strappy, laser-cut neckline; a slashed sleeve to expose a sliver of forearm. But there were attention-grabbing elements to spare, thanks to fabrications like a clingy metallic windowpane jacquard, jewel-encrusted satin, and a striated burnout velvet. That last fabric spoke to Siriano's assessment of his eveningwear customer's current tastes: "She wants to look a bit cooler—but nottoomuch."
8 December 2014
The cavernous, multidimensional glass sculptures of Australian artist Sergio Redegalli got Christian Siriano thinking about the "effects of transparency" for Spring 2015. The designer experimented quite a bit with layers, building dresses from sheets of striped organza, or adding spiky crystals as an underskirt peeking out from the bottom of a brocade cocktail dress. A laser-cut, leaf-like embroidery overlaid on sheer organza fabric added texture to a cap-sleeve blouse worn with a long pleated skirt. The color palette was icy, moving from white to glass-green to navy, with graduated colors in between. Many of the textiles were inspired by Brooklyn artist Tara Donovan, whose installations are made out of ordinary things like Styrofoam cups, fishing line, and plastic drinking straws. In some cases, Donovan's influence worked quite well. For instance, a green bubble lamé looked fetchingly retro on a high-low gown and a full skirt that was paired with a navy crewneck. However, a raffia ball skirt—inspired by the fishing line—had a heftiness to it that felt off when worn with a cropped, thin-strapped tank.Dramatic eveningwear is Siriano's bread and butter, and he dutifully offered his client plenty of options, including a jacquard-dot gown with a supersize flounce framing its skirt and a graduated sea-foam dress made of diaphanous diagonal ruffles. But Siriano says that his customer is more interested than ever in pieces for day, so he is working hard to get his sportswear right. A white off-the-shoulder number in a stretch knit worked well, thanks to a slight curve at the collarbone. It was a tiny detail that made it look a little more "dressed," as Siriano would say, and less off-the-rack. The designer does best when he hits that sweet spot between theatrical and traditional.
6 September 2014
Christian Siriano collects—and is inspired by—the work of young Charleston-based painter Teil Duncan, so he asked her to collaborate on a lookbook for Resort. In it, models pose against a wall of Duncan's paintings while she works in the background.The artist's saturated pastels served as a starting point for Siriano, who said Resort performed so well for him last year that he chose to expand the collection even further for 2014. "There are a lot of options," he said on Thursday at his studio, where Duncan's paintings were still sitting out among the racks of clothes.Thepow!colors made the first impression, then the diversity in silhouette. A painterly floral brocade, done in yellow and green or pink and red, looked best on a dress with a structured top and handkerchief skirt. A long lavender silk dress had a panel of peach pleating attached to one hip, and there was a shorter take on the likable silhouette in magenta and guppy green.Siriano's oversize palm print in burnout organza worked well on a strapless ball gown with a slightly shorter front, and also on a simple sheath. A few looks could have been deleted from the lineup, particularly a magenta silk shirt with blocks of yellow and green—too loud in an already loud room—and a black-and-white long-sleeve column gown, which had a mountain of appliqués. But Siriano generally seems to understand what his customer wants, and is emboldened to give it to her.
4 June 2014
Christian Siriano doesn't typically have a specific muse for his collection, but this season he just couldn't get photographs of Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn—taken by both of her husbands, Fernand Fonssagrives and Irving Penn—out of his mind. "A friend sent me a photo of Lisa taken by Fernand, and I loved the way he created texture with light and shadow," Siriano said backstage before the show. "She was his muse, and ours as well."The collection was certainly an homage to the mid-century model, right down to the Heather Huey-designed hats. The silhouettes were couture-inspired and looked as if they were plucked right from one of Penn's photos, whether it was a wide, shawl-neck coat in silk faille or a royal purple alpaca coat shaped by rounded shoulders and paired with matching trousers.While Siriano didn't stretch far enough beyond his initial reference, it was hard not to like the clothes. An eveningwear designer first and foremost, he offered some beautiful options: specifically a swirling strapless ball gown—which was voluminous without looking fussy—and a black embroidered organza coat with petal-like white feathers. But he's working hard on day, too, and executed it better than in past seasons. "I still want her to lookeddressed," he said of the oversize eyelet tops and tea-length skirts. Even if evening remains the crux of Siriano's business, it's good to see that he's thinking about the big picture.
7 February 2014
A long-planned vacation to Mexico's Isla Mujeres provided Christian Siriano with just the right inspiration to build his Spring collection. "There was something so cool about the neon-painted houses and the women selling handwoven baskets in tiny markets," the designer said backstage before his runway show.To bring relaxed Mexico to his typically formal collection, Siriano incorporated basket-inspired raffia into several looks. A chiffon circle dress was decorated with rose-and-cream French knot raffia; a jacket and miniskirt combo was made of straw in a rainbow of colors. Although formalwear remains the crux of Siriano's brand, these daytime looks proved that he is capable of making all-occasion clothes. While some of the pieces were still a bit overdone—there were a few too many flounces on blouses and day dresses—Siriano's work is certainly improving in the category.But the major moment was left for the gowns. Siriano went with a garden party theme, offering floaty numbers in celadon and coral, adorned with floral appliqués. They were the most sophisticated he's done. "My customer asked for color, so I gave it to her," he said. Just proves that the customer is indeed always right.
6 September 2013
Give the retailers what they want during Resort. It's a chorus we've heard over and over this season, and Christian Siriano took the mantra to heart going into his first cruise collection. The opulent eveningwear specialist made a point to include buy-now-wear-now separates, kicking things off with graphic stripe-blocked daytime looks including tailored shorts suits, pencil skirts, and strapless cocktail dresses in a variety of in-your-face hues like magenta, electric violet, and fire-hydrant yellow. His bold use of variegated bands was reportedly inspired by the abstract artwork of Nicholas Wilton, who paints large-scale QR barcodes and other computer-generated matter. With colors like that, it was a relief when Siriano toned things down and let cut and textured fabrics do the talking. Highlights included a versatile stretchy knit sheath and a coated raffia biker jacket.In the end, though, gowns remained the feature presentation. Devoted fans will go for an intricately beaded, off-the-shoulder number as well as a dramatic trumpet-skirt look that found a way to make the aforementioned stripes feel fresh.
3 June 2013
The interiors of Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre served as a starting point for Christian Siriano's Fall 2013 collection. That reference was obvious in the opulent gold beading, the masses of black velvet, and the ornate brocade. Siriano imagined his muse as an escort circa the 1880s whose client has folded her into the upper echelons, erasing her sordid past. Handkerchiefs were tied around the heads of many models, further emphasizing the Russian-peasant thing. Yet they were more reminiscent of babushkas than women practicing the world's oldest profession.If that prop was a wrong move, Siriano did other things right. The designer, who is best known for appearing on reality TV and dressing celebrities—Ashlee Simpson sat in the audience alongside young actress Shailene Woodley—says that sportswear is becoming more and more important to his business. "We sell a lot of it in Russia, actually," he mentioned during a preview of the collection.His efforts in the medium were successful. A black chevron knit, which he shaped into form-fitting but not skintight dresses, looked easy and sophisticated. A pair of sweatpants-style trousers, which came in a buttery leather, was the collection's coolest moment.On the formalwear front, two cocktail dresses in metallic fuchsia wool—a color nodding to Russian red—will please his girly-girl customers. The metallic bustiers, paired with cropped pants, marked the first time this week that we didn't groan when a peplum appeared on the runway. (Let them go, people.)Siriano is a longtime collaborator with Payless, and the shoes created for the runway were fun, done in velvets and metallics and encrusted with brooches and jewels. Of course, they'll be altered a bit for the Payless audience, but hopefully the brocade brogues will make the cut.
8 February 2013
Today's Christian Siriano show felt like an afternoon at the ballet, which boded well for a designer whose often over-the-top gowns are hard to imagine anywhere but on the runway. Inspired by a recent performance of American Ballet Theatre'sThe Dream,Siriano (himself a former dancer) couldn't resist reinterpreting what he saw onstage as a series of looks for a modern yet elegant woman. The first models graced the runway in pale pink polka-dot cropped pantsuits—what dancers might wear off duty—followed by a party dress in the same pattern topped with a leather jacket. You could call that girl the rebellious ballerina. It was clear in the details—pearl-encrusted bodices and white feathers—that Siriano had done his research. "I got to look at the American Ballet Theatre's costume archives," he said in a preview at his studio. Yet his knack for understanding a ballet dancer extended further than what they wear with their pointe shoes. A pair of ivory palazzo pants and a crisscross halter top would be ideal for any prima's post-performance night out. But the highlight of the show was the finale, when three girls clad in watercolor tulle frocks walked the runway in unison, garnering cheers from the crowd. Siriano said he took his inspiration literally. We'd say in this instance it worked.
8 September 2012
The cleanup act that Christian Siriano began exactly a year ago continued this season. In fact, this was quite easily his most subdued and streamlined collection to date. His inspiration was the 1933 filmVampire Bat. "The funny thing is that it's this quirky horror film," Siriano explained backstage. "But Fay Wray is just so glamorous and stunning in the whole movie." Still, Siriano laid out his aim as simplicity with a focus on the details, and thus took a light hand at translating his source material. Nothing read overly retro, though a quick glance at the black-and-white film on YouTube did show Wray in a sheath with a ruffled collar like one Siriano showed.Rather, from it he extracted his moody, tough palette of barely there grays and blacks, with measured doses of deep red. (The dense and fuzzy abstract print he showed in a bang-on-trend look of printed blouse tucked into matching soft silk trousers, as well as a simple circle-skirted dress, was meant to look like TV static.) A black satin sheath had an inverted widow's peak neckline, while the tube-like embroidery on a satin dress and the stamped print on a motorcycle jacket had a swirly motif Siriano dubbed "bat vein." He likened the pretty caped sleeves on dresses and gowns to wings.This is probably the first time that Siriano hasn't included a showstopper gown, the kind that gets his adoring audience clapping and on its feet. That restraint did him well. There were at least three here that were quite chic. In a recentNew York Timesprofile, the former reality TV star talked about his struggle to be accepted by the fashion industry. Interestingly, he mentioned that his simpler fare—things that the industry and his stylist seem to prefer—doesn't sell as well as when he lays on the drama. It's possible that some of his clientele may find this collection less to their taste. If that critical approval is essential, surely there's a balance. Or he could just be himself.
10 February 2012
Christian Siriano has won many hearts and minds, and in such a way that the bodies attached to them unabashedly stand and cheer at the end of his show, while those with money go to Neiman Marcus and buy his eveningwear. Still, his quest to be taken seriously continues.Today marked his second season working with stylist Danielle Nachmani—a girl trusted by the Olsen twins to find something to wear for the Met Gala. Backstage, Siriano cited Katharine Hepburn as inspiration—an unexpected reference. (Certainly she could be described as fierce, but not the way he means it.) The first half of the show reflected that no-nonsense glamour in simple shapes like T-shirts belted into lean bias skirts, and crisp white shirting with paper-bagged palazzo pants, hopped up by acid hues. Nothing groundbreaking, but nothing offensive either.And suddenly, it seemed as though Siriano couldn't bear the restraint anymore, and in rolled a storm of flocked tulle and organza, capped off by a dramatic finish of dimmed lights and streaming models. The crowd ate it up. It's what they were waiting for. But it didn't exactly help his case.Getting the respect that Siriano wants will require more than heeding a cool stylist. But you have to ask the question: Does he need it? In fashion's new landscape, editors and designers are scrambling for the reality-TV stardom that Siriano already has in spades. Perhaps all he needs is a change of perspective.
9 September 2011
Christian Siriano is working hard to shake off his reality-show roots and win over those who still overlook him. To that end, this season he hired stylist Danielle Nachmani, who's dressed insider-fave celebs like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Maggie Gyllenhaal, to rein in his sometimes ridiculous penchant for capital-G glamour.The show began in a Tisci-tinged dark and edgy way, with tailored jackets pieced in various textures of black over sheer skirts, before turning a corner into less-fresh-looking ladylike suits and coats. Throughout the collection, you could feel the negotiations between these opposing sides. Amid stark but chic looks like a long tulip skirt with a lean black turtleneck that had shades of Spring Jil Sander, there was a dowdy attempt at elegance in the form of a suit with a portrait collar and awkward ruffled skirt. The usual OTT gowns showed up, but were slightly subdued. One massive petal-pink ball skirt was paired with a simple gray silk tee to chic effect. And a moody-hued orchid-print organza cocktail dress with a pretty swirling drape that ended in a rosette on one shoulder was a very nice détente. Whether Siriano's show will become a hot ticket for the fashion set remains to be seen. His point of view needs to be more finely honed and distinct for that. Nevertheless, this was a step in a better direction.
9 February 2011
A certain sector of experienced showgoers might have been shocked by the mob scene at Christian Siriano. The "hot tranny mess" reality guy? Yes, him. And while today's crowd, assembled to see theProject Runwaywinner's fifth collection, likely owed its bulk to fans and fashion tourists, it also included Saks Fifth Avenue president Ron Frasch and Neiman Marcus fashion director Ken Downing. Both stores carry Siriano's collection. There's clearly something about the designer. "Women are very excited about him," Downing said after the show. "They definitely know who he is."Siriano explained his Spring inspiration as a mélange of various cultures from places he hasn't been; "A bit of African, a bit of Asian, a bit of Mediterranean-Greek," he said backstage. The vague references had vague execution—an abstracted Indian temple print here, a croc-patterned brocade safari suit there. For the most part, the clothes were a catchall attempt at sophistication and glamour. But apart from the designer's personality, there isn't much of a sartorial story to tell. Siriano's clothes generally don't propose any fresh thinking about fashion or the way women should dress. And when they do, there's an air of the ridiculous. You could allow the draped gown half-swallowed in a nimbus cloud of ruffles as a showpiece, but not the printed suit with an asymmetrical ruffle that juts straight out for half a foot. Thereissomething about Christian, and that can't be discounted. But it would be nice to see him shore up the goodwill and fame with clothes that can stand on their own.
8 September 2010
Aside from the wafting dry-ice smoke and thumping techno, Christian Siriano opened his show on a surprisingly untricky note—a stylish black-leather peplum jacket and pencil skirt that would elicit neither silly catchphrases nor eyebrow-raised double takes. Like it or not, this is Siriano's fourth outing on the non-Projectrunway, and he's making an effort to transition from reality television into plain-old-vanilla reality. According to his notes, this collection was inspired by the head-to-toe propriety of European women in the sixties. And so the dramatics of seasons past were all but excised, leaving passably chic coats, cocktail frocks, blouses, and pencil skirts with a flourish here and there, but little to tell you about a designer's vision. (Not that we're encouraging the mad hattery of previous shows.) Backstage, Siriano said his niche was glamour, but to really move forward, he'll have to expand that one-dimensional notion into something more original and thoughtful.
11 February 2010