Designer Tulles Up for Blue Ribbon Show
Alber Elbaz explained to his luncheon companions that he’d found some of the inspiration for his Guy Laroche spring collection in St. Moritz--out of season, when the Swiss resort is no trendy ski mecca but returns to being the health-energizing, restorative spa it was long before the days of plastic surgery.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing--giving a lift, without surgery,” said the Moroccan-born designer with the granny glasses and the Kramer haircut, whose blue, lilac and yellow sateen cotton designs were hemmed with the red of the Swiss flag.
The smartly suited members of the Blue Ribbon of the Music Center, gathered at Neiman Marcus midday Thursday, seemed at first a little uncertain whether the Elbaz day and evening wear shown was quite their thing.
But they were clearly won over later as they listened to the designer’s philosophy and were able to inspect the craftsmanship of his garments up close and discover, for example, that there were seven Salome-like layers to the flower and butterfly embroidered tulle dresses, so that transparency was illusion, not reality.
“Still, I will not show my upper arms in public,” said Judith Krantz, whose published prose appeared more risque than her fashion choices as she checked out the cocktail wear, hoping to find a dress with sleeves.
“I think you should get the purple leather coat,” Ruth Karp told Sylvia Sher. But Sher, who won the raffle for a $2,500 Laroche garment, headed to the dressing room to try on a less flashy suit, while others remained to query the models about the construction of their “Star Trek”-style beehive hairdos designed by the Frederic Fekkai Salon.
John Martens, general manager of Neiman Marcus, and Joni Smith, Blue Ribbon president and event co-chairwoman with Pamela Clyne, Louise Taper and Eunice David, welcomed the crowd. Among the guests were Guy Laroche president Ralph Toledano, Kathleen McCarthy, Maxine Picard, Annette O’Malley, Kathy Offenhauser, Dona Kendall, Rosalind Millstone, Suzanne Marx and Mary Hayley.
The charming Elbaz explained that there are no fashion rules regarding length and color anymore, or regarding young and old.
Nancy Livingston was impressed with his message that women can escape constrictions to be “beautiful and comfortable.”
“So you can all enjoy these desserts,” Elbaz said.
Like everyone else, he had happily eaten the delicate and pretty food, catered by La Cuisine--mache salad with tomato fennel aspic, cold roast loin of veal filled with apricots and pistachios, and a cold praline souffle with blackberry coulis and fresh raspberries. A spring mood was reflected by the royal blue hyacinths embedded in moss decorating the long tables, set up on the store’s second floor, where backdrop music was provided by pianist Alpin Hong, a l994 winner of the Music Center’s Spotlight award.
