Dauphinette Embodies the Angel and Devil on Your Shoulder for SS24
Known as the happiest brand on earth, Dauphinette is embracing its darker side with "Gods, Girls and Monsters" for Spring/Summer 2024. Delivering its quintessential quirky aesthetic, the collection is a sartorial essay on protection, making use of spiky sea urchin shells, vintage crucifixes and upcycled doorknobs. Googley eyes line lampshade dress, joining Bandolier phone cases with straps made from wig hair and pearl-crusted kitten heels.
What: The whimsical and often otherworldly label has made its name with happy-go-lucky garments, but for New York Fashion Week designer Olivia Cheng has decided to peer into the shadows. Presented as a collection about the "little deaths" we endure throughout our life, Dauphinette's SS24 season substituted its usually cheery designs for slightly creepier clothing.
Where: Located within the Georgia Room, attendees were graciously greeted with a refreshing Lillet apertif, completed with a hibiscus flower. A live a band matched the comforting arrangement as guests were sat in lounging chairs, creating a cozy and welcoming atmosphere.
Saw: Dauphinette's designs continue to put a smile on our faces as dresses arrive with wide, lampshade hemlines, while a collection of google eyes adorn another. While dresses dominated the collection, each one is uniquely made as Dauphinette experiments with exaggerated silhouettes. One frock resembles a pin cushion with its puffed skirt. Elsewhere, a top and underwear gown adds a subtle sensuality with its cheeky bottom and bare midriff.
Touch: Dauphinette has a penchant for unlikely materials as garments were adroned with beetle wings, upcycled door knobs, vintage kimono silks, sea urchin spines, shrimp and mushroom waste as well as vintage bedding. Accessories undoubtedly held their own as shoes were covered in pearls or braided wig hair. while handbags were accented with upcycled door knobs.
Taste: Dauphinette's SS24 collection is not only a reflection on death, but a celebration of the nuances of girlhood as many of us feel like a god, a girl and a monster all at once. Feminine dresses are transformed into fantastical and delightfully weird creations with the use of playful and offbeat materials, nodding to the ways in which clothing becomes both armor and a means of expression.
