Lela Rose: Calatrava Inspired – Fall 2012

So you’ll never guess where Lela Rose got her inspiration from…This past Sunday I attended the Lela Rose Fall 2012 runway show at New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week held at Lincoln Center.  Front row guests included Camilla Alves, girlfriend to Matthew McConaughey, Pretty Little Liars actress Shay Mitchell and celebrity stylist sans Rachel Zoe, the cute Brad Goreski.  Local fashionistas included Neiman Marcus style-star Ken Downing and Tracy Hayes.

Camilla Alves, Shay Mitchell and Brad Goreski.

Lela conjures upon the fusion of structure and movement from the Spanish architect and sculptor Santiago Calatrava—inspired by the architectural landscape silhouettes of Calatrava’s bridges and railway stations. The collection balances geometry with a natural fluidity and evokes romanticism through layers of organza, silk and embroideries.

The color palette depicts sulfur, gravel, brick, rust, magenta and ivory, merged with an ironwork organza print and cable-stayed plaid.  Highlights include the zig zag wool, double-collar jacket, with a sulfur knitted wool sheath dress, accessorized with a zig zag resin necklace, shown above, a deep magenta silk chiffon archway embroidered dress and a weathered stretch folded sleeve dress, both below.

Does World-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava sound familiar? The aforementioned inspired bridge would also reflect—The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Aka The Trinity Bridge!  As a Texas native, and a lover of fashion, you will usually find the influence of art not far behind, and Lela’s mother Deedie Rose, is an avid art advocate for the Dallas arts district—so it seems only natural that Lela would be inspired by the Trinity River project and its talented architect.

The footwear featured with the collection were designed for the special collaboration between Lela Rose and Payless Shoes, which will be available in stores and on Payless.com Sept ’12. Each shoe name: Merida, Pontevedra, Lucerne, Wholen and Cascine—chosen from cities that host Calatrava’s iconic bridge designs.

My favorite look: above, the labyrinth organza strapless dress.

At the end of last year, Lela Rose opened her first flagship boutique in Dallas, located at Highland Park Village.

Photo: Mike Coppola, Getty Images and Yannis Vlamos.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.