Luisa Beccaria took to the Ritz after a long absence from the storied Paris hotel — it has been refurbished since — recalling that her clothing lines were scattered in different rooms last time. Couture here, ready-to-wear there.
Now, she assembled her tiered, ruffled and embroidered floral gowns together in a space overlooking the hotel’s private, snow-dusted garden, with a focus on what she calls limited-edition pieces — a notch above the upscale label’s idea of rtw, given the elaborate handiwork, but better-suited for an international clientele on the move.
Lifting a long, petrol-blue dress, she pointed out the technical nature of stitching eyelets in velvet — diamond-shaped, running horizontally on the bodice and sideways across the ribs, adding texture along with the pale salmon-colored flowers.
Luisa Beccaria Couture Spring 2019
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Intricate craftsmanship abounded, including embroidered carnations on an ultra thin tulle and a shimmery blond skirt made with raffia — punctuated by stripes of velvet ribbon in a beautiful orange hue.
Beccaria embraces a certain register of femininity, as reflected by the presence of butterflies and sequins, but she tempered this inclination with an array of orange, geometrically patterned dresses and handsome cotton smocks — intricately pieced together, but with a sparser interpretation of flower motifs.
“More and more the elegant women are looking for [a] wonderful handful of pieces to have them as their best friend in the wardrobe,” she said. Best friends for someone who might find herself barefoot in Saint-Tropez or on Patmos in Greece, from New York, Hong Kong or London; she also cited the Dubai royal family.