“I love what I know,” said Rachel Zoe, by way of explaining why she chose to show her spring collection in Los Angeles, ahead of New York Fashion Week, and at the same venue — Sunset Tower — as last season. It makes sense, too, because Zoe is best when designing what she loves: Seventies-inspired glamour. This season she was inspired by the photographs Slim Aarons took in Palm Springs — think “Poolside Gossip” — to evoke classic images of California.
“You want to jump into that photo and that’s how I felt with the collection, jumping into that moment and that life even for five minutes,” said Zoe. “This was really the collection to pay tribute to California life and California women and that whole Beverly Hills Hotel and Palm Springs thing, everything we know and love. Even when you don’t know and love it, when you think of L.A., that’s what you think of.”
She opened the show with an oversized sequined palm-leaf print in her favorite silhouettes, the slim caftan and the shorts suit. She also worked with denim for the first time, using the iconic California fabric for a three-piece pants and shorts suit. There were other iterations of the suit as well as the plunging neckline gown, in rose gold and black, as well as a couple of bias-cut dresses in a pink cactus flower print.
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Interspersed throughout the collection were nine long white dresses and one suit that comprised the debut of Zoe’s bridal collection. “I wanted to tiptoe into bridal in a way that felt modern,” she said. “I wanted to make it possible to walk in, fall in love with a dress and go and get married in it. Every season I would make white dresses because I love them. How many times have I used one on the red carpet? Everyone would always follow by saying, ‘I would get married in that,’ so I thought why not do a collection? What an amazing thing to be a part of a woman’s Cinderella moment.”
Zoe plans to also make the styles in blush, black and navy for non-wedding-related occasions, including glamorous fashion show/dinners like the one she hosted on Tuesday. Among the guests seated on the terrace overlooking the city were Jessica Alba, Goldie Hawn, Chrissy Teigen, Nicole Richie, Selma Blair, Jennifer Meyer and Erin and Sara Foster, all of whom wore nonwhite versions of Zoe’s dresses from the current and new collections.