For fall, Zuhair Murad found a point of departure in the work of Giovanni Boldini—portraitist to the Belle Époque elite, among them Consuelo Vanderbilt and Lina Cavalieri. Looking beyond their silks, satins, jewels, and updos, the designer gleaned a complex femininity: a mix of seduction, mystery, confidence, and independence that he sees in his own clientele. In his show notes, he described them as “moving through a blazing Paris, where love, refinement, and excess shape with every movement.”
This season, though, the excess Murad loves unconditionally was leavened by restraint. The collection seemed built on productive tension: floral chiffon with architectural tailoring, dévoré velvet with economy of line, and the occasional lashing marabou, of course, but only at the bust or cuffs. There were still flights of fancy: in chandelier-like embroidery on a cropped top and long black skirt, exuberant peony and orchid motifs, and some intricate feather-and-lace embellishments on a black halter gown and top.
But what is most likely to land in these uncertain times is the grace of an oxblood dress with a built-in scarf detail and a single bloom at the shoulder, the calibrated sass of a pouf dress with an asymmetrical hemline, a black midi-dress in duchesse satin with little ties in back, or the retro glamour of a perfectly constructed bustier gown—perhaps accessorized with a strass rivière or two or a ladylike handbag with a metal handle and a body blanketed with tiny flowers in burnished gold leather. Boldini would have recognized all of it.
