You can always count on an over-the-top evening gown at an Oscar de la Renta show. But the fall ’20 collection, which showed Monday night at NYFW, was especially fantastical, ending with a finale look that had Bella Hadid covered in a fuchsia feather cape.
The runway show was worth the 9 p.m. time slot and subsequent delay, which had guests seated and waiting for almost 30 minutes in the halls of the New York Public Library. The collection opened with day looks that included a series of boots — the first for the brand in a while.
A pair of white knee boots with a kitten heel had a black racing stripe down the side, which proved to be the only sporty detail of the night. There was also a tweed boot in the same silhouette that matched a girlish suit with a full miniskirt. Paired with a few voluminous gowns and skirts, there was also a series of over-the-knee boots (some in patent leather, others in velvet) that had practical flat rubber soles.
But the unquestionable highlight of the night came from the brand’s signature evening gowns. Feathered, gilded or brightly colored with voluminous trains, the parade of evening looks elicited audible praise from an audience that seemed skeptical (and tired) at the beginning of the show.
One of the best shoes of the night was worn by model Candice Swanepoel, who walked the marble runway of the library in a black velvet gown with a plunging neckline and a crystal jewel collar detailing. She wore a pair of trompe l’oeil cutout sandals that wrapped up and curved around the foot and ankle like a snake.
The eveningwear also included another version of the gown that Scarlett Johansson wore to the Oscars on Sunday night, this one in classic black tulle.
