Pamella Roland Fall 2015

This season the 1970s has served as a point of reference for several collections. From such disparate brands as Reem Acra, Rebecca Minkoff and Christian Siriano to Nicholas K and J. Lindeberg, the 1970s with its wide range of design aesthetics holds endless possibilities for creative teams.

While the late 70s with its Studio 54 influences was the obvious inspiration for a lot of design teams, Pamella Roland looked to Paris of the early to mid-70s as detailed in Alicia Drake’s “The Beautiful Fall,” serving as the defining force behind Roland’s fall 2015 collection.

In “The Beautiful Fall” Alicia Drake details the pre-disco years of one of Paris’ favorite 70s hotspots, Le Palace, as well as all of the glorious excesses of 1970s Paris. It was also a time when Yves Saint Laurent produced his most exciting collections and his models ruled the Parisian runways.

Roland paid homage to this era by creating garments that were sexy and more youthful than seen in previous collections. In this outing Roland’s dresses had effortless sense of movement, reflecting the changing tide and loosening of social attitude and sexual morays. The 1970s were all about liberation and a laissez faire attitude about everything and that is evident in this collection, seen through the current fashion lens of retail viability and mass appeal.

That said; there was some restraint in this fall collection buttressed by Roland’s signature aesthetic of sophistication and elegance. Though some looks were more for the more mature, sophisticated consumer, overall this collection demonstrated that Roland has the ability to design for a younger customer looking for glamour and a sense of whimsical style.

The color palette and fabrications of this collection was a rich combination of silk, chiffon, floral cloque jacquards, jacquard cloque tweeds, wools,sand striped crepes in deep shades of midnight navy, plum, burgundy, cobalt, olive, and camel. Roland also stays on trend by incorporating semi-high slits, sequined embellishments, metallic fibers, and big floral prints for fall.

Standouts in this collection were Roland’s black wool beaded harness jumpsuit, burgundy silk satin chiffon dress with fringe beading, navy silk satin chiffon gown with cobalt floral beading, and ivory feather jacket with ivory lurex fils-coupe bridal gown.

—William S. Gooch