Within the past year, very few runway shows have sparked my interest, and even fewer have compelled me to write. But I have to talk about Lia Gabrielle.
Writing off the back of Gabrielle showing a capsule collection at N Crowd’s spring fashion show, (shout out to Michigan State University’s student-run fashion magazine,) I am reinvigorated with love for the young and hungry.
For the designers cutting their teeth on the cutting room floor, for designers who know they need to get better and aren’t afraid to practice in public. For the designers that sewed that hem and cut that keyhole.
Lia Gabrielle is hands-on, heady, and hungry.
Lia Gabrielle’s eponymous brand first sprang onto my radar when I saw her announce the preorder for her plaid puff skirt. Short, regalic in nature, and vibrant, the skirt’s image remained plastered on a wall in my mind palace for weeks.
It entranced me. It’s so light and fluffy but commands attention. It could be wonderfully styled on top of denim with a pointed heel on the feet to bring it all together. Or…or! The skirt could be styled with stockings like Lia Gabrielle sported herself.
But the skirt is good enough to wear bare-legged and carry the bottom half of a look! Then what are you supposed to wear as a top? Are you going to keep it simple with a baby tee or take a nod from Gabrielle’s previous collection CORPORATE CHAOS and take a more formal approach? The possibilities are endless.
That is the stream of consciousness a good fashion piece should give you. You should see the possibilities.
Fashion is possibility.
Needless to say, I was excited to view the skirt as part of a collective story. The joy of what could be that originally entranced me was abundant on the runway.
The conjurings of Lia Gabrielle’s mind translated beautifully, with a top designed to be in the shape of a mouth, peek-a-boo keyhole cutouts, a mini skirt with trickles of post-it notes sashaying, and a corset turned from sexy to sweet with its teardrop crystal ornamentation just to name a few standouts.
There is room for the young designer by way of Michigan to grow, but I have no doubt that she will. And while her craftsmanship skills and her star increases, I will be setting money aside for that plaid puff skirt I oh so adore.
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