Christian Siriano RTW Spring 2019
Christian Siriano has long been a champion of diversity on the runway in terms of race and size. He’ll send out a curvy model in a skintight cheetah print dress and easily argue the look was made all the more fabulous for doing so. He closed his glamorous spring show at Gotham Hall with three black models in coordinating ruffled flamingo pink frocks, strutting confidently in unison as if the crowd was waiting just for them.
It’s no wonder his celebrity fans are wide-ranging. In addition to front-row staples Coco Rocha and Whoopi Goldberg, Siriano welcomed Tiffany Haddish and New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon to the pack. Placed on each seat was a Nixon campaign brochure with a reminder to vote on Sept. 13.
“She’s really championing the same things I’m championing, which is all these different types of people and cultures and women,” Siriano said of Nixon backstage ahead of the show. He hammered the point home with a single “Vote for Cynthia” T mixed into this season’s realm of tropical glamour.
Following his 10-year anniversary show in February, which was quite dark, serious and dramatic (and lovely!), Siriano made it a point to lighten the mood with a romanticized view of a Hawaiian holiday. We are talking about Christian Siriano, so his take on Hawaiian prints was playful but not campy.
The opening floral Hawaiian numbers were muted and soft, cut into relaxed dresses geared for day, which he topped off with his elevated take on a safari hat. A group of slinky sunny chartreuse dresses played to the ease and allure of island living.
Animal prints signaled the collection’s power and confidence, and it didn’t matter that the connection between tiger, cheetah and zebra prints and Hawaii couldn’t easily be made. These were modern takes on eveningwear, ranging from an ultrasleek zebra-print suit to an edgy PVC snakeskin coat and shortened billowy tent dress with a holographic leopard sheen.
There were, of course, plenty of the hyper-feminine gowns for which Siriano is known, but edgier options like a crystal-studded white suit and sheer lace top and bottom sets were the real standouts.
Launch Gallery: Christian Siriano RTW Spring 2019
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