NY Fashion Week 2011: Luca Luca Fall Winter 2011 (with Video)
Raul Melgoza, the Creative Director at Luca Luca whose Fall/Winter 2011 Collection debuted at New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center featured designs that were inspired by the adventures to be discovered in the deep woods-the beauty, the color, the fantasy. A bevy of supermodels sat in the front row of the show, from Carol Alt and Petra Nemcova to Irina Pantaeva (see photo gallery below). New York socialites were also in attendance including Tinsley Mortimer and Valesca Guerrand-Hermes.
Carol Alt talked to Luxist about her devotion to the fashion house. "When I was out of the fashion industry because I was doing movies for 10 years and I really wasn't around they immediately invited me back to the front row, "says Carol Alt. "They were really mensches. When someone is good to me, I am loyal for the rest of my life. You really have to slap me in the face for me not to come back here."
Melgoza's told Luxist his inspiration for the Fall 2011 collection is the story of a woman who is a running through the woods as she discovers the beauty, the color and the sanity that exists in the woods. The collection was presented at Fashion Week on Thursday, February 10 at Lincoln Center in New York. (See video for a backstage interview with Melgoza).
"As she starts her journey, she is in very tailored, equestrian-inspired silhouettes," he told Luxist. "She is wearing a lot of laces and transparent and sheer fabric as if she is shedding her very layered looks as she ends her journey."
The day wear collection features several layered, tailored pieces, as well as furs, wools and silks, says Melgoza. "I wanted to keep her layered so that underneath the layers there is soft, flowy chiffons," he explains. "I wanted to incorporate a lot of different weights and a lot of color as opposed to staying dark and heavier as you would typically think of a fall collection."
The designer believes his customers will want to wear color in the fall. "Everyone is a bit more optimistic about the economy, which is why I wanted to showcase color during what otherwise is normally a darker time," he says.
Melgoza started off being inspired by the gear worn by equestrians. "I extended that by being creative," he says. "I imagined a woman riding her horse through the woods. But what does she do after that? So I took her on a journey. I extended the experience of being in the woods. The woman who I had in mind is definitely an adventuress. She is a strong woman who is very confident but at the same time, very feminine."
The signature of the Luca Luca brand and of Melgoza's personal aesthetic is to create clothing that is not of a particular season. "It is well designed so it has a long shelf life," he says. "It will be styled, but in general, there is always a classic foundation to it."
The Fall 2011 Collection features a lot of lace, says the designer. "I had this idea of the meta-morphing of a brocade into a lace or a print into a lace," he says. "So it goes from dense to sheer. The idea of fabrication mimicking her journey. As she traveled through the woods, fabrication goes from dense brocade to a lace that is almost sheer."
The fur in the collection ranges from alpaca and fox to mink. "There will also be a lot of leather and suede, as it is important to have a lot of texture," says Melgoza.
There are prints and a lot of textures, while the colors Melgoza selected include olives, burnt sienna, butterscotch, grey, some fuscias, as well as as earth tones and neutrals mixed throughout the collection.
While Luca Luca in general has long had a reputation for being worn by celebrities on the red carpet and to special occasions, Melgoza's desire is to broaden its scope even further. "I want to push the idea of sportswear that can go from day to night," he explains. "My signature is more tailored, a more sculpted silhouette, but still feminine."
Luca Luca clients can expect to see more versatility with pieces that can be dressed up and down easily, he says.
Luca Luca distributes its line through its own boutiques in New York on Madison Avenue, in Chicago on Oak Street, in Palm Beach on Worth Avenue and in Miami at Bal Harbour Shops. Additionally, Luca Luca can be found throughout the world in specialty stores and selected Neiman Marcus department stores in the U.S.
Betsey Johnson Fall 2011 Collection: NY Fashion Week
Badgley Mischka Fall 2011: NY Fashion Week 2011
NY Fashion Week 2011: Jason Wu's Fall Winter 2011 Collection
Derek Lam at NY Fashion Week: Fall 2011
Carmen Mark Valvo Fall Winter 2011 Collection During NY Fashion Week
