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NEW YORK – Christian Siriano faced a race against the clock, with only 48 hours to craft his show-stopping finale gown for New York Fashion Week. The striking iridescent green fabric he’d sourced from Italy had been delayed in customs for several weeks, arriving just in the nick of time for Thursday’s runway display.
Famous for his stint on “Project Runway,” Siriano is no stranger to tight schedules. While he had months to prepare his other designs, he shared with The Associated Press that the last-minute nature of this particular creation injected an exhilarating energy into the lead-up to his show.
“The best dresses come at the end because I’m really, really in it,” Siriano remarked.
Departing from his usual practice of thematically decorating his show venues, Siriano opted for a minimalist approach this season, allowing his garments to take center stage. His new collection is a bold exploration of texture and color, weaving together elements of surrealism to craft a dreamlike narrative.
“It was more of an idea of this fantasy dream, maybe like a Dali painting that can never be explained,” he explained. “It really is this dreamlike world that hopefully everybody feels really beautiful in.”
Siriano’s fashionable crew of celebrity friends and loyal customers sat front row, including actors Leslie Jones, Uzo Aduba, Julia Fox, Natasha Lyonne, Whoopi Goldberg and rock singer Taylor Momsen.
The show opened with black and white structured looks before models emerged dipped in a sea of colors. They stopped along the runway to pose with their hair transformed into a surrealist swoop style, crisscrossed around their necks.
Siriano’s collection reimagined red carpet silhouettes including eye-catching gowns with dramatic asymmetric necklines and exaggerated tulle sleeves or peplums. Even his black and white designs, featured shimmering fringe, alluring cut outs, feathers or delicate beading.
Siriano’s looks are not for the wallflower. The designer fashioned several revealing sheer looks.
In typical Siriano fashion, the runway was filled with models of all sizes and genders.
“We need to escape and be somewhere else … in a dream world,” he said. This will be a celebration of like, beauty, bodies, age and cultures and we need that.
Siriano’s standout looks of the night featured pops of color including a chartreuse lace cropped jacket and maxi skirt, and the bright green ombre bubble gown that arrived shortly before his show.
Siriano’s supermodel muse Coco Rocha closed the show in the ombre bubble gown. As Rocha theatrically posed down the runway, she locked eyes with guests. Celebrity guest Jones cheered on the model, yelling “drama” as she passed by.
“He makes you feel secure in his clothes,” Jones said of Siriano. “It doesn’t matter what size you are; he’s going to make you feel beautiful and that’s the essence of Christian.”
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AP entertainment producer John Carucci contributed to this report.
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