Catherine Malandrino Fall/Winter 2013

The Art Deco stylings of French furniture and interior designer Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann inspired a dynamically sophisticated fall/winter 2013 collection by Catherine Malandrino. Malandrino had said she wanted to focus on “clean and graphic shapes” for her fall collection. The result was a master class in detailing and design.

Ruhlmann’s work was known for its subtle plays with line detailing and gently curved shapes, whether it was a curved headboard, curved chair legs or a network of lines that graced the front of a cabinet. For Malandrino, that inspiration took the designer to dozens of variations of mostly black garments featuring cutouts, lace and embroidery.

The Ruhlmann chair leg became spindle-like cutouts arrayed around the neckline and at the waist of black tulle velvet embroidered dress. The trademark curves could be seen in stunning pieces like a sculpted arc of a mini-embroidered box pleat wool skirt and a funnel-necked black rubberized trench coat that would have anyone singing in the rain.

The line play made for several racy pieces such as a perforated leather dress, a long sleeved jersey dress with a zig zag ribbon slash cut out of the front, and an expertly tailored black leather quilted jacket with a funnel neck collar. Even legwear was given the intricate design detail treatment with black wool guipure lace front fitted pants that teased the eye with tasteful, yet intriguing flashes of skin.

Burgundy and to a lesser extent ice blue also played an important role in the collection, but pieces repeated in the ice blue weren’t nearly as distinctive as those wrought in black or the burgundy. And a trio of evening gowns in tones of burgundy, midnight blue and absinthe, though reflecting the theme somewhat in their gentle cascading sashes and shoulder detail, seemed out of place after the exciting drama of the rest of the collection.

—Karyn D. Collins