American eveningwear has certainly never been at risk of what the late editor and style icon André Leon Talley called “a famine of beauty.” But as a sense of occasion got tied up with safe, predictable silhouettes targeted toward more traditional-leaning clientele (those with deep pockets and a packed social calendar), eveningwear lost its sense of fantasy and, therefore, has lacked in giving its wearers the chance to express themselves or make a real statement. We’ve been starved for designs that say something about the woman dressing up in these pieces other than “She looks nice!”
Thankfully, however, there are a handful of emerging designers who have sensed that something needs to change. No two are going about restoring the American eveningwear universe in quite the same way, and that’s to the category’s benefit.
To wit: A couple of nascent brands, Grace Ling and Kate Barton, use forward-thinking materials for results that speak to the party girl’s inner freak. On the one hand, Ling’s runway debut found sophistication in surrealism. On a misty runway that evoked an alien landing, models wore slinky, floor-length dresses secured by metal bars just above their collarbones and asymmetric skirts that appeared to have half melted off. Elements of each look were 3-D printed. One look came with a butt-shaped bag Ling calls one of her signatures. (Something else eveningwear has always needed: a sense of humor.)
“When you break it down, a lot of the pieces are comfortable skirts, knitwear, or my version of a classic button-down,” Ling said. “I see it as a uniform for the cultured, modern person”—one who isn’t afraid to be adventurous.
While Ling is after remaking the mold of traditional event dressing, Barton doesn’t necessarily consider herself an eveningwear designer. But her minis and gowns, each made by molding a single piece of fabric, have the force to turn any…
Read the full article here
