High-octane fashion week displays have sort of become Sally LaPointe’s thing recently. On the occasion of her brand’s 15th anniversary last fall fans were rooting for her courtside at the National Basketball Players Association during a show that included its own halftime dance performance.
So what does she make of the much humbler pre-seasons? During a resort preview, LaPointe described them as her own kind of halftime in which she plays the athlete, recharging her creative muscles. “There’s no added pressure of a show so it’s nice to just really focus on the product,” she explained, adding that outfitting for the holidays, when this collection delivers, “is my jam.”
Truth is, LaPointe doesn’t need to use Christmas or New Year’s as an excuse to be freewheeling with feathers and rhinestones. Her customers want those embellishments from her year-round. What they don’t want, she says, is to sacrifice comfort. It’s why she’s now a go-to for musicians on and off the stage like Demi Lovato who recently tied the knot in a silky white pantsuit, a version of which was offered here.
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Overall, though, LaPointe leaned away from tailoring and toward her version of eveningwear, which she made clear is “definitely not a ballgown.” Falling somewhere between the club and the charity gala, its taut dresses draped in all sorts of directions around the body. Occasionally, they were shown layered over trousers, a styling trick LaPointe said she dug into her college wardrobe for.
These and a few simpler floor-length gowns had an air of ’80s Donna Karan, dialed all the way up of course with color (hot pink, petrol blue and crimson) and fabric (tie-dye velvet, python jersey, and floral sequins). Where Karan would’ve thrown on a stealthy cashmere blazer, LaPointe stayed true to form and threw on a grungier denim trenchcoat with Mongolian trim.
Tying the two New York-based female designers together was the word LaPointe kept coming back to: “easy.” Synonymous with Karan and her trailblazing “Seven Easy Pieces” dressing system, LaPointe worked toward capturing that same on-the-go, cosmopolitan quality, albeit with more pizazz.