You didn’t have to read the show notes to pinpoint immediately that Tadashi Shoji was inspired by tulips this season, more specifically the tulip conveyed by photographer Ron van Dongen. The show opened with petal and tulip skirts and dresses in a variety of colors and continued with a one-shoulder dress with a side puff akin to a bouquet of flowers. Other cocktail dresses were accented with grass-like washes of color before a parade of striped, Jil Sander Spring 2011-esque looks made their way down the runway.
There was an airiness, to the collection much of which had to do with the silk linen, embroidered lace, and draped tulle used to create the ethereal looks, a number of which were hand painted to mirror the intricacies of tulip (no two are exactly the same after all!).
As for the more daring fashionista, she could turn to any of a number of sheer fabric and lace looks shown, many of which were embellished with delicate embroidery and the most daring of which came with a thigh-high slits. The collection capped off with floral printed summer dresses.
