Wolk Morais runway collection pays homage to L.A.’s well-heeled nightlife
Hometown label Wolk Morais presented its latest collection on a dance-floor-turned runway in West Hollywood recently, a range of women’s (and a few men’s) looks inspired by denizens of the city’s after-dark scene heavy on the metallics, floral jacquards and outsized bows, and serving up a lot of the retro-glam vibe we’ve seen elsewhere recently, most notably at Saint Laurent’s collection shown at the Palladium a few miles down Sunset Boulevard in February.
The backdrop for the May 24 show was a special Wednesday evening installment of Giorgio’s, the happening nightclub scene that usually unfolds at the Standard Hollywood’s Mmhmmm lounge on Saturday nights and has a reputation for drawing the fashion scene’s in crowd -- designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais among them.
“Our weekly Saturday night rendezvous at Giorgio’s have provided us with endless inspiration and extraordinary insight into Los Angeles’ most fashionable women,” the duo said in their show notes, which described Collection 3 (the designers eschew the traditional “spring/summer” and “fall/winter” labels in an effort to be seasonless) as “an ode to the smoky allure of Hollywood’s infamous nightlife and the paparazzi imagery that documents it.”
The result was a 27-piece wholly club-appropriate collection (completely designed, sourced and manufactured in Los Angeles, it’s worth noting) that included festive mini-dresses, some in black denim, others in floral silk jacquards, festooned with ruffles and bows; precisely pleated knee-length skirts; a few silk metallic-underwear-as-outerwear pieces (bras and a corset); and, by our count, eight different jumpsuits (who doesn’t love a good jumpsuit?), including an eye-catching version in a shimmery metallic gold floral fabric and another in sparkly black paired with an ostrich feather boa. According to the show notes, the custom feather pieces were by Mother Plucker, the shoes courtesy of Terry de Havilland, the makeup by Nars, the hair by Paul Mitchell and the eyewear by Perverse -- with stylist Elizabeth Stewart pulling the whole thing together.
The men’s looks consisted of a black silk peak-lapel tailcoat and a gold lamé shawl collar dinner jacket – both of which were paired with cropped black trousers and black turtlenecks.
Among our favorite pieces were a floor-length dress in a chartreuse metallic lamé that seemed to flow like mercury, and a black denim halter mini-dress with a large off-kilter bow at the breastbone that was eye-catchingly straightforward and unadorned amid the swirl of silk and sparkle.
Oh, and avoiding seasonal labels isn’t the only way Wolk Morais is bucking fashion-industry convention. Collection 3 (priced from $1,295 to $6,995) can only be bought by contacting the label through its wolkmorais.com website.
ALSO:
Saint Laurent brings retro-glam zeal to the L.A. runway
Giorgio’s ushers in the ‘80s with a little help from its friends
Wolk Morais, a new L.A. brand appealing to the teenage bourgeoisie
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