Markarian RTW Spring 2021
“I don’t think working from home is going away any time soon, so I’m trying to keep that in mind when planning for the next couple of seasons,” remarked designer Alexandra O’Neill. The Markarian designer is a master of fantastical, feminine attire, which she has whipped into aspirational occasionwear based collections for the last few years. But O’Neill knows how to evolve her brand; when approaching spring, the designer wanted to be realistic about designing for today’s unprecedented world while offering her girl a sense of fantasy and something to look forward to.
She did so through a selection of bridalwear (both gowns and more “casual,” shorter renditions for rehearsal dinners or a backyard or city hall wedding), an expanded offering of cotton-based ready-to-wear, to accompany her more fanciful frocks, and the debut of jewelry.
“I thought it would be great to launch jewelry because mostly everybody’s wearing kind of sweat pants and jeans and T-shirts right now. Having fun jewelry is a way to still feel put together and dress up a little bit,” she explained.
After recently expanding into luxurious chain belts, developing jewelry was a natural next step. The capsule includes an offering of 18-karat gold-plated earrings (from hand-painted enamel and Swarovski-covered snake earrings to emerald, sapphire and ruby tassel earrings) and pearl-drop anklets and necklaces. In rtw, the designer doubled down on cotton-based attire, like two easy, lightly printed paisley lilac numbers with delicate pleats or corseted bust. Staying true to the brand’s beginnings, each look — from a dressier strapless sage green smocked dress with delicate crochet trim to more playful, mirror embellished cotton fashions — upheld the brand’s happy, feminine spirit. And while the future of larger social gatherings come springtime is to be determined, the Markarian girl will have a plenty of great offerings to choose from.
Launch Gallery: Markarian RTW Spring 2021
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
