Stevie Nicks is the Energizer Bunny of fashion references. She keeps going and going and going. Reem Acra found herself inspired by Nicks’ “24-Karat Gold Collection” exhibit last fall of digitally reprinted self-portrait Polaroids from the Seventies. The photos evoked the particular time in that decade when retooling the Victorian aesthetic was rampant. According to Acra, “This put me in a mood, I got inspired, I started to dig in my archives and found pieces of embroidery, feathers that I had collected since I was five years old. I was transported to my own world.”
This world was a decadent fantasy of beads, lace, tulle and, of course, embroideries. The bulk of the lineup was composed of short dresses, mainly with long sleeves or fur toppers — a smart move on Acra’s part if she hopes to lure in a “younger, cooler, rock ’n’ roll” customer, as she describes her “modern gypsy.”
There were signs of Nicks in the collection — handkerchief hems and Victorian pouf-sleeve tops and jackets — but the mood veered toward vintage, and even Ottoman at points, given the opulent metallic laces and embroideries. Stronger looks included an embellished pink mink coat over a short jeweled lace dress and a slate-green coat with gold thread detail. Restraint is not really a word in Acra’s vocabulary, but if applied here and there throughout this collection, it would have fared better.