The recent John Singer Sargent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, particularly the artist’s once scandalous portrait of Madame X, originally painted with a strap hanging off the subject’s shoulder before being revised, fired Kobi Halperin’s imagination for Ungaro.
The New York-based designer, who was born in Israel, mused on moving between different cultures as Sargent also did, as well as what it takes to shock people today, as he was putting the fall collection together.
As such he sought to twist the house’s classics — just a little — into mix-and-match silhouettes for contemporary society girls. “I simply want to create beauty, she doesn’t need to shock anybody to feel that way, she doesn’t need the drama,” the designer said at a showroom appointment.
Dominated by black and nude tones and punctuated by silver and gold details with vivid pops of red, Halperin’s wardrobe for Ungaro included satin separates trimmed with feathers and a poplin shirt with giant roses embroidered in silver sequins. (There was also an unadorned version for a less adventurous clientele.) In more extravagant territory, a dainty cream lace skirt was topped with an intricate embroidered floral belt and matching bustier in gold. To top off the outfit for winter, Halperin devised a statement collarless coat in synthetic Mongolian fur with giant sequin bow details.
Monochrome or dual-toned designs were dominant, but there were also opulent prints combining floral motifs and polka dots on a black background, done in a selection of floaty maxidresses, and prints on fluid tops reprising the motifs of lace designs in black and gold. Taffeta dresses were given dropped waists and wide trenchcoat belts, while tailoring had tone-on-tone lace incrustations.