story by Rebekah Glasgow
photos by Sandy Ramirez
Gottex is not new, but this season sees a new creative director at the helm of this global champ swimwear brand. The debut show put on by new designer Molly Grad was nothing short of brilliant. The high energy vibe, the sexy curvy models, and the “own it” suits made this one of the sexiest shows of the week.
Grad used many different fabrics in her collection of one pieces and bikinis that were embellished in stones. When asked about her inspiration behind the stone-embellished one piece suits, she said, “It is all about a woman’s body. I wanted to create a balance between the mix of a more conservative style and a more revealing style.”
Fabrics consisted of plasticized lycra, stretch plisse, stretch and laminated tulle with laser cut jewel-like embellishments. A number of key colors were repeated throughout the collection, which consisted of sea blues, strikes of red and gold, deep blacks, and stunning white suits with matching jewel encrusted headbands, done in collaboration with lead hair stylist, Peter Gray of Cutler/Redken.
(lead hair stylist)
The makeup pushed strong eyes and clean natural faces.
(lead makeup artist)
Grad commented on her overall inspiration behind the line, “I was thinking about the sand, beach, and the ocean but a way to develop it in a more artistic, abstract way. I wanted to do something more modern with the treatment of fabrics and embellishments. Thus, looking to the future.”
Embellishments used were coral, ruffles, sequins, and eye-popping large gold and stone necklaces. This created a very bold, confident look while the models strutted down the runway, but looked a little heavy for actual swimming. Suits were asymmetrical with fabric cutouts in all the right places. As a relief to some, the models used for this show actually filled-out the suits. There were cheers from the audience and the press pit throughout the parade of sun goddesses.
the designer with her favorite look…
Beautiful silk chiffon kimonos with gold accent belts were used as cover-ups creating a look that could allow a woman with the right assets to come off the beach and go straight to a party. Definitely a Miami-ready line. Gottex’s new line for spring-summer 2010 was quite stunning, an impressive launch for the new Gottex.
