Reem Acra Pre-Fall 2024

Ari Stark
·2 min read
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Reem Acra’s pre-fall look book was shot in what might be the last place you’d expect to find her high-glam eveningwear: a dank, dreary warehouse deep in Brooklyn. “I wanted to move around, to see another part of the city,” explained the designer who has grown accustomed to shooting her collections at home since the pandemic

Ironically, In her quest for newness, Acra returned to something old, basing many of her silhouettes on one from the archives. It was a pleated ivory gown with embellished cap sleeves from spring 2008, dubbed the Olivia after Olivia Wilde wore it on that year’s Emmy’s red carpet. The same dress had two cameos in “Gossip Girl” as well — a marketing double whammy, which introduced many tween-age girls to the Acra label.

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Those girls will be pleased to find sultrier versions of the Olivia, to wear for their own events, like one in turquoise chiffon with a triangle cutout at the hip, or another in charcoal-blue with a ruched bodice and portrait neck. “This is very much what I was known for,” Acra said.

She was referring to her higher-profile days in the 2000s when she was more focused on dressing international movie stars than international housewives, and with the SAG-AFTRA strike in the rear-view, she’s hoping to get back to that. “It’s what I know how to do best,” she said, and she’s right.

Among the red-carpet contenders were sheer columns with gunmetal sequins embroidered on nude-illusion fabric. One had blue bugle-beads resembling falling water and clung to the body as if it’d been soaked. Acra typically doesn’t lean this far into naked-dressing, but lucky for her, the trend shows no sign of slowing down in Tinsletown.

Less risqué were the high neck dresses in crepe with elongated Renaissance sleeves. Could they duplicate the success of the Olivia? Probably not — they skewed a bit goth to appeal on the same scale.

Launch Gallery: Reem Acra Pre-Fall 2023

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