There was something slightly old-fashioned at work in the Oscar de la Renta Fall/Winter 2016 show. Let’s call it a return to classicism on the runway. Peter Copping’s predecessor, the late Oscar de la Renta, had long ago infiltrated the upper crust of society by creating his signature lavish ball gowns and placing them in the hands of the world’s well-heeled socialites. Last night, Copping paid his respects to glamor from another era with a collection that celebrated the female figure with an hourglass silhouette touched with brocade tapestry, fur, and even leather. Many of the looks appeared as if from another time, a time when manners ruled, when you left a calling card when visiting a neighbor, and when you never left the house without a dainty pair of gloves – except in this case Copping’s gloves are cropped at the knuckle and feature a crust of crystal embellishment.
Peter Copping’s predecessor, the late Oscar de la Renta, had long ago infiltrated the upper crust of society.
For day, his looks were prim and proper, featuring textured skirt suits, gorgeous dresses with curved-out hips, and fussy little coat-dresses trimmed with fur collars. Oh, and did we mention that there was a cracked-gold suit in the mix as well? Save for the occasional lace turtleneck (look for that trend to start hitting soon), these looks were pointedly modest.
Elsewhere, Copping updated house codes by curving his silhouette inward with the use of bubble hems, which were usually tacked to the bottom of elaborate bustier bodices, some of which featured disco-ball embellishment, glittering obsidian beads, and sequined embroidery. As the show progressed deeper into the eveningwear portion, some of his looks became a little too old fashioned, especially in the case of dense crinoline gowns that proved difficult for the models to walk in. With better fabric or more streamlined tailoring, these could have easily been his best looks of the night.
