About half of the space at Monique Lhuillier’s Lincoln Center venue was set aside for tiered platforms that served as a stage for each of the 36 models after they walked the runway. It was a striking conceit for her electric jewel-toned evening collection for fall, which began with below-the-knee sheaths in plum, midnight or teal guipure lace. These beauties evolved into fuller A-line versions in textured and floral laces.
Lhuillier knows how to make her jumpsuits every bit as feminine as her girly dresses, cutting them in dotted or star-embroidered tulle. With a new attention to structure, she beautifully balanced her softest dresses with smartly tailored wool jackets or tweed mohair coats. One structured jacket, worn over a thigh-high sheath in plum tulle and lace, may have been out of sync with Lhuillier’s Twenties-style longer, liquid looks, but this combination added a feisty new spirit. For more formal affairs, the designer offered lovely gowns in gunmetal, embroidered antique gold, copper and burnout velvet. But some of the silk satin numbers were overwrought with long trains, cutouts and asymmetrical extremes. Yet for many Lhuillier fans, judging by her audience, there’s no such thing as too decked out.