Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week: Christian Siriano Fall 2010

There was quite a huge crowd for the Christian Siriano Fall 2010 show but luckily I was able to snag an aisle seat and grab some shots of the show. Overall I felt a very late 1930s - early 1940s evening wear feel about the pieces with soft drapey, flowy gowns, large ruffles and languid bows which were combined with strong and sometimes excessive shoes.



Per the information provided, Christian was "inspired by 1960s Parisian women who dressed up every day." The shoes were inspired by 18th and 19th century French antique furniture with filigree detailing and clawfoot lion's paw foot tubs.

The ruffles were a very strong theme from the dresses down to the Cabriole evening shoe shown in black and royal blue satin.

I found the severe Gladiator boot to be a challenging pairing with the flowy dresses but they could be an interesting work boot.

The shoe styles had very modern shapes, especially this Cloven boot, with wedge heels. Surprising with the My Man Godfrey style dresses.

I will be interested to see how these metallic embellishments are translated, if at all, to the real world Payless stores. The materials used in this collection - gold and silver filigree, patent croc in wine and charcoal and brown and black patent python - can be go really wrong when less expensive materials are used. And we have seen how the Spring runway designs were toned down for the stores from this:

to this:

There has been a statement that a limited edition "direct-from-the-runway" capsule collection will be available in select store in early March. I think it would be great if they do bring the full runway style to consumers.

See more images on my Flickr

Runway images on Style.com

Updates on Payless on the Runway