Once again, Hervé Léger provided the audience with the typical, bodycon looks. Ranging from below-the-knee dresses to shorter pieces and some body suits, there really isn’t that much of a deviation, save for a few select styles (namely the fringey skirts). No surprise, of course. It’s the signature, after all. Therefore, it’s probably better to talk about how the looks were presented.
The show opened with several below-the-knee dresses, paired with tall, over-the-knee boots. This was then followed by a series of shorter skirts, paired with booties. All the models had their hair tied back in a sleek pony tail, and each one also had a streak of bright colour sprayed on. Many of the dresses were paired with furry coats, which did not enhance the looks too much, in my opinion. They were, for the most part, better without, considering that the audience wasn’t really able to see the look of the entire dress. How are we supposed to know what the back looks like, considering that the model never takes off the coat?
The mix of longer dresses with tall boots and shorter one with booties was interesting – I would have styled it in reverse or skipped the tall boots all together for booties. I would never pair boots with dresses or skirts without a bit of skin or stockings showing between the hem of the skirt and the tallest part of the boot. It looks a bit better that way. The only exception is when dresses and skirts are at ankle or almost ankle length. However, most of the dresses in the first half of the show were closer to tea length.
In terms of the skirt lengths, I was happy to see that there was a good selection of pieces that would work well on varying heights, even though the majority of the pieces in the first half of the show were NOT petite-friendly. Petite friendly is not only defined by a good skirt length, but also alterability. Certain patterns and styles cannot be altered easily without changing the look completely (especially the dresses with fringe hems), despite what people think. Again, Max Azria and his team were NOT thinking about women with varying heights. Runway pieces, after all, are available for purchase. It is not meant to be a one time, presentation-only thing. Buyers also need to remember this (do buyers forget? Surely, there are petite buyers out there!) as well, as do magazine editors (I never notice major publications discuss fit and various body types unless the article is specifically geared towards that area. Why?).
Would I recommend any of the looks? Of course. However, Hervé Léger is not for everyone, either. And it isn’t only because of price. One must be very figure confident in order to wear them, whether one is very slim or not!
