Vera WANG

NEW YORK, September 09, 2007 – The backdrop to Vera Wang was a large and ancient-looking tree. And, as the show began, lighting behind it faded from deep orange to white in a sort of otherworldly time-lapse sunrise to the sound of, very fittingly, “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles.

However, though it did offer shimmery gold in the way of a gilt column dress and vibrant purple, aquamarine, and rusty orange, Wang’s collection, inspired by Roman antiquity, wasn’t exactly sunny. Some of her pieces, like a chestnut duchesse satin belted dress, felt more appropriate for fall. But maybe these days the chicest women don’t worry so much about the calendar when dressing (after all, Amanda Brooks, sitting front row, was wearing the prettiest watercolor print dress from Thakoon resort). “She always does draping so beautifully,” Brooks said after the show. Her favorites? The long, jersey evening dresses.
 
It was an hour before show time, and while the music blaring through the speakers backstage was more like the playlist at Socialista, the mood was anything but the usual frenzied madness: The designer herself even had a moment to get her hair blown out by legendary hairstylist Orlando Pita. While Wang was sitting pretty, Pita’s team of stylists was busy twisting models’ hair into sleek, low knots. “You know when you see Kate Moss out, and you know she tied up her own hair, without fuss?” said Pita, looping a model’s long ponytail through an elastic band. “That’s what we’re doing.”

For makeup artist Lucia Pieroni, the bright, jewel-toned palette of Wang’s spring clothes—fashioned into draped, column-like layers and strong silhouettes—called for a suitably more simple face. “We went for a very pure Grecian look, no mascara even; just some taupey-browns and gold shimmer,” said Pieroni, who explained she didn’t want the makeup to compete with the rich shades of aqua, fuchsia, and purple in the clothes. Clé de Peau’s new spring eye color compact (in a shade called “Calming Breeze,” out this February) did double-duty, with Pieroni dipping into the nude-colored shadow for lids, and even using the pink on lips—dusted over a little bit of foundation (common backstage magic), for a matte, pale-rose effect.