Armor might not be the first word you’d use to describe Greta Constantine’s colorful spring collection, but it’s what designer Kirk Pickersgill had in mind when creating his new offering of cheerful formalwear. “When you think of the word armorThen you think about clothing that protects you,” he says. “But when women go out, the clothes they wear are also the most important thing they want to be seen in. It gives you that air of confidence.”
His sculptural dresses were certainly made with the intention of being noticed. Focusing on his luxurious materials—silk, satin, bardos—Pickersgill took inspiration for his spring shapes from glamorous figures like Diana Vreeland and Roxie Roker, creating dresses meant for making an entrance at a party. (Many of his clientele buy his pieces for important galas.) “They were great style icons,” Pickersgill said of his seasonal muses. “[Roxie] I used to wear clothes with volume – not in a robust way, but because of the amount of fabric used.”
The designer wanted to create pieces that took up space without any space literal comparatively exaggerated. Take his purple strapless dress, with ruffles at the knees to give it an hourglass shape, or his black off-the-shoulder dress with a sculptural wavy neckline. These pieces had just the right amount of drama, although Pickersgill couldn’t get carried away elsewhere: his layered ruffled mini dress in salmon pink was a gown worthy of a modern Marie Antoinette.
Its bright, punchy colors worked best with more refined silhouettes, like the sleek long-sleeved jumpsuit in lemon yellow. The designer also played with texture, adding three-dimensional petals to jersey maxi dresses, either on the neckline or as a border. Flowers? For spring? Maybe not groundbreaking, but they were still very beautiful.