Post date: Feb 10, 2013 1:29:34 AM
Herve Lager by Max Azria outfits a harem for Fall 2013 in beaded bandage dresses and leggings in patterns and colors taken from nature in his show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 09, 2013) (REUTERS) - Herve Leger by Max Azria gave the women in his harem a wardrobe makeover for fall.
Beaded bandage dresses and leggings created a tribal look for his Fall 2013 runway show on Saturday (February 9) at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.The label's husband-and-wife design team, Max and Lubov Azria, used colors, textures and patterns borrowed from nature.
"When you start designing Herve Leger, it's all about bandages, so it's not like you can go and research fabric, so what we did is we went into nature," Lubov Azria told Reuters.
"We started looking at different textures in nature and sort of, emanating them."
A dark green bandage dress was done in a pattern that resembled alligator or snake. On the body, the dress looked sensuous and almost slithered as the woman walked. Perhaps this is what the serpent would have worn in the Garden of Eden if she had been into haute couture.
Long sleeves, high necklines and hems at or below the knee transformed the body-hugging bandage dress - the label's signature - into a modest look that could appeal to more women around the world.
"Oh, they are very sexy there," said Max Azria, when asked if his collection might appeal to women in the Middle East.
"Very aggressive, too, so they are not angels."
Leggings were long and lean with jeweled embellishments.
Even the strapless bandage dress - once the uniform of women who dare to go bare - took cover for Fall 2013. It was popped over a sleek
and semi-sheer black turtleneck with long sleeves and lean black leggings.
But one outfit appeared ready to rock the casbah: A black beaded midriff-baring top worn with a belly dancer's black harem pants.
An ivory sequined sleeveless dress, worn with an ivory fur-trimmed parka and skinny ivory leggings, could be just what a runaway bride might wear - if she were a rock star playing cat and mouse with the paparazzi.
Shoes and boots sported square toes with metallic caps, looking a bit like footwear for glamazon horses or a tribal harem on the run.
Branding played a bigger part in this collection.
"With everything else, we're being copied so much that those items, we need to constantly brand everything because of the media and everything that's going on around us," said Lubov Azria.
"So it's very important. We also have certificate cards in every dress to show you that it's actually the real thing, so we go to that extent because of the copies."
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York will continue through Valentine's Day on February 14.