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Monique Lhuillier: Cyber Cabaret

Monique Lhuillier may be best known for her bridal collections, but her fall/winter collections as of late have offered a wilder, more decadent fashion story, well-suited for the single party girl on the social circuit or the recently divorced peacock on the prowl.

They’re also gorgeous, attention-grabbing, richly baroque choices for one of Lhuillier’s many celebrity fans looking for something beyond the usual bias cut, understated satin numbers.

For her Fall 2008 collection, shown in Bryant Park on Tuesday, Feb. 5, Lhuillier presented of vision of 21st century flappers. From the beginning, you knew it was going to be populated by sumptuous fabrics and rich details, from the opening look’s softly folded exaggerated ruffle, which swept around the back like a golden wave, to the regal, velvety blue and gold embroidered coat with oversized crystal embellishments.

Ostrich feathers and paillettes were a recurring embellishment theme along with the crystals, showing up on both floor-length film star-worthy gowns as well as the flapper-style cocktail-length ones.

There were a few missteps related to the volume of some of her tiered feathery chiffon looks – in white, it had the effect of making the body look like a bulbous egg.

Beyond the evening looks, she showed some great pieces for day, including an ombre tweed skirt and a black suit jacket with a sharp forties-style shoulder, which is shaping up to be a major trend on the fall runways thus far – a return to female power dressing.

Silver metallics, including a jacquard embossed with a deco pattern, looked like computer chips, leaving the impression that these were the kind of clothes that might populate a futuristic cyberpunk cabaret when everyone has finally dispensed with such gauche necessities as Blackberries or iPhones. Instead, they’ve simply become incorporated into their clothing, or perhaps their skin, giving new meaning to the word "implants," when nanotechnology is the new black.

All in all, a strong collection from a designer who knows how to serve up dresses that can double as a piece of exquisite jewelry.

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