Beauty has many forms, and in her Spring/Summer 2011 collection, Monique Lhuillier drew from the duality of the Garden of Eden, where what is both beautiful and forbidden has its rightful place. The show opened with a simple, beautiful blush gazar strapless, pleated petal-bodice cocktail dress, and built momentum as each series of looks referenced the polarity of innocence and seduction.
High-waisted slacks with thin belts, a trend in women’s collections this season, are beautifully married with petal blouses. Lhuillier uses rich color palettes of apple red, gold, metallic copper, and carnation pink accented with floral motifs that pop up in appliqués, hand painted organza, or floral-printed tops and dresses. Lhuillier also gives a wide range of looks in this collection, from great cocktail dresses to blouse and slacks ensembles to red carpet looks, and llots of great separates.
This fantasy collection is beautifully balanced with garments that show off the feminine silhouette to its best advantage. Although it is elegant and sophisticated, and in some respects demi-couture, there are still elements of youthful whimsy and frivolity.
In Monique Lhuillier’s garden, the sensuous and the demure are not diametrically opposed in women, but different sides of the same coin, giving her the thing we love best: confident grace.
