VERA WANG’S WORLD OF BLACK

Vera Wang is known for a lot of things. Black clothes are one of them. So how does she keep the mainstay colour fresh?

“I don’t think it’s challenging to make black contemporary,” Wang said on Tuesday backstage after her show of mostly, you guessed it, black.

“I think there’s too much black in contemporary, and I love black, but I think to make black look elevated is a much bigger challenge because there is so much black clothing, particularly for autumn. So to try and create black on a more couture level of sewing and detailing, and that it be visible and representational of that level of sewing, is a challenge. No question.”

She and Thom Browne weren’t the only designers to lean heavily on black. Alexander Wang went to the dark side as well.

On Vera Wang’s runway, details did make the difference. She sent out both useful rain boots and towering high heels, used a flash of under-white at the seam of a long dress and put hand-sewn petals on vinyl, corset lace-ups on several pieces and canvas straps on a velvet gown.

Vera’s world of black included an oversized cashmere fisherman’s sweater, a cotton men’s shirt with big felted wool sleeves and silver sequins, and a vinyl wrap miniskirt with black sequin flowers.

It also came with a touch of ivory, including a crepe shift dress with asymmetrical draped sleeves that carried into other pieces.

Like other designers, Wang wouldn’t discuss the upcoming Oscars red carpet, because she doesn’t know anything yet! But, after all these years, she still sweats out celebrity dressing.

“Yes. I stress about everything. There’s pretty much nothing I don’t stress about, you know, but that kind of comes with the turf, I think, for us designers today because everything that you show reflects on your brand.”