Dress takes another spin
New Zealand designer Karen Walker has rereleased the Skating dress from her acclaimed 2004 ‘‘Liberal & Miserable’’ collection.
SIXTEEN years ago Karen Walker unveiled a scarlet hued dress at London Fashion Week as part of her seminal collection, Liberal & Miserable. Now it’s making a comeback.
For most designers with an extensive archive of greatest hits, this particular dress, the Skating dress, turns out to have stood the test of time; I should know — my wife has one of the few originals ever made. Faithfully scouring websites and vintage stores for pieces from the designer's earliest collections has become a parttime hobby. As one of her favourite pieces, the dress has become a reliable wardrobe staple over the years.
A deceptively simple piece in the perfect red, Walker's Skating dress has become a cult favourite. Combining a sense of nostalgia with popular demand, it has been relaunched into stores as part of her prefall 2020 collection.
‘‘In my career, I’ve been lucky enough to have had a handful of, what I consider, great pieces emerge under my watch,’’ Walker says.
‘‘The scarlet Skating dress is one of them. We first made her for the Liberal and Miserable collection and her difference was there from the very first sketch.
‘‘Upon developing that sketch into a garment it was clear she was truly superior. Once unleashed to the world at London Fashion Week in February 2004 she was seized by media, stylists, and celebrities. ‘‘It wasn’t the first time we’d had celebrities wear our designs, but having Sienna Miller doing her paparazzi thing and Bjork doing her onstage thing in this dress was very thrilling indeed.’’
It was originally made from silk chiffon but the updated version is available in tactile recycled polyester chiffon.
‘‘What is it about this dress that makes it work?’’ Walker asks. ‘‘First of all, it’s the proportions: it’s exactly the golden ratio which is always a knockout and, in this case, completely unplanned.
‘‘It’s the simplicity of the line. It’s the austerity of the top mixed with the extravagance of the skirt and its four full circles of silk chiffon.
‘‘It’s the restraint of the single block of colour mixed with the energy and excitement that only scarlet can give you and the movement that only eight meters of silk chiffon can give you.
‘‘We’re excited to rerelease her this season with one small change — the cloth’s no longer silk chiffon — it’s now recycled polyester chiffon because technology’s caught up with demand and recycled polyester now feels astonishing.
‘‘But, apart from that, she’s the same and, in sending her out into the world, 16 years after she was first released, we hope she’ll be loved as much as she was the first time around.’’ — viva.co.nz
Karen Walker’s Skating dress costs$595 and is available from Karenwalker.com. Karen Walker is taking preorders and will be in touch regarding shipping when the Government deems it safe.