Hervé Léger Resort 2016
Resort is when designers really have it cut out for them (and in the case of Hervé Léger, quite literally cut out). The clothes are on racks for a while, shoppers may or may not be heading to tropical, alpine or temperate climes and with all that, there isn’t even a runway show to show off how the clothes move. But for a brand like Hérve Léger, which sits like armor on a woman and is known for sex, skintight silhouettes and seasonless dressing (after all, anyone daring enough to wear a bandage dress is going to do it whether it’s 90 degrees or negative five). For resort, however, Lubov Azria managed to change the house codes just a bit — enough to keep things fresh — while still delivering the sex-on-stilettos heat that permeates Hervé Léger.
Inspired by the armor worn by warriors — which were incidentally embellished with precious and semi-precious stones — Azria worked natural motifs into Hervé Léger’s own brand of armor. The bandage dress was embellished at the neckline with studs and sequins that reflected the colors of natural stone. Barely-there pink, soft beige and milky white along with deep blues and greens. Warriors had the stones to boost their courage, but the women wearing these dresses already have confidence to spare, so Azria added a few cutouts for good measure. After all, these ladies are defending themselves against flashbulbs, not swords and cudgels.
Hervé Léger Resort 2016
The silhouettes also moved away from the body, adding to the A-line cuts that the brand has been flirting with lately and adding in panels of lightweight chiffon, giving movement and lightness to dresses that can sometimes come off as stiff.
And embellishment came by the way of fabric manipulation, too. Panels of geode embroidery, quartz beading and mixed media were woven into the bandages, offering up a new take on the staple for women who might be feeling fatigued from the line’s usual offerings. One of the reasons that the line became popular was because the bandages held everything in, fighting jiggle and creating dangerous curves on just about every body.
Hervé Léger Resort 2016
There won’t be any of that in the swim offerings, which showed skin rather than conceal it. Monokinis, tiny bikinis and even rashguard-inspired pieces (leave it to Hervé to sex up something that’s meant to cover up) are sure to turn heads at the pool, but anyone who’s browsing the racks at Hervé Léger is accustomed to stealing the spotlight. Just ask Laverne Cox, Kate Upton, Katy Perry and other loyalists — they just can’t get enough.
For more information, visit www.herveleger.com.
Images courtesy Hervé Léger
