Christian Soriano S/S 2012 New York

Former Project Runway winner, Christian Soriano, debuted his Spring 2012 RTW line in New York. His collection was reminiscent of the 1940’s vis-à-vis shape and silhouette, and not to mention, a Katharine Hepburn inspired glamour. Unlike his past works, this collection started out safe and unexpectedly simple: girls were belted at the waist in striped t-shirts and floor-length skirts, edges on every ensemble were perfectly crisp, and Soriano’s usual and signature touch of “drama” was practically nonexistent.

Thankfully, the second half of the show was an efflorescent one. Beautiful embellishments were slowly added to transition the designs from a tamed start, to a bold and signature-Soriano-“fierce” finish. Sleeves were covered and layered with feathers and ruffles, plain and simple skirts quickly became transparent with meticulous swirling designs that celebrated “creatures of the sea”, and his crisp dresses quickly transformed into a beautiful flock of flowy tulle and silk organza. 

The colors consistently remained either white, chartreuse, classic rose, or taupe with an occasional accent of red. Notably featured, were the heels that are part of his new footwear collection for Payless Gold. Though this collection featured overwhelmingly high numbers of different silhouettes and shapes, and perhaps a few dresses that perhaps ran little flat, Soriano’s show was, without a doubt, a definite crowd pleaser.