Julien Macdonald’s signature shimmer, sequins and body-baring silhouettes were out in force on the designer’s runway Saturday. But this season, there was a steely, futuristic quality to the way he worked his glamorous designs, with the designer saying that he was inspired by “modern society, where technology rules the world….it’s about being yourself and living a modern life.”
That idea was evident in, some of the intricate embellishment on Macdonald’s dresses, which evoked a robot’s inner workings, as in one torso-revealing dress that was laced with a web of silvery thread in angular patterns. And one halter-neck dress was knitted from silver thread, embellished with dulled, silver sequins.
The designer balanced out this edgier, tech-inspired fare with some comparatively soft-focused — but still attention-grabbing — ensembles, such as a lace mini dress adorned with scores of black feathers, or a sheer white gown, embroidered with silver-edged, white feather motifs. And for his muse’s male counterpart, there were glittery knit tops with cut-out panels, along with sweaters encrusted with sequins and beading.
Macdonald isn’t alone in being captivated by an unabashedly opulent mood — just take Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain, which this collection at times brought to mind. But it’s an aesthetic that Macdonald has a storied heritage in, and within which he continues to forge his own path.