story by Seth Friedermann
photos by Adrianna Favero
If Formula One racing ever needs an official women’s wear designer the position must be awarded to Elise Overland. No recent fashion designer has been able to capture speed, quickness, and agility in clothing as well as the Norwegian former competitive slalom skier. The easy argument to make is that it is her famous leathers that link her to those qualities, but it is not so. Every season there is a great deal of focus on Ms. Overland’s leather looks and while her skins are certainly unique and powerfully sexy, the question that begs though is, what is the caliber of her fabric garments? Ms. Overland is certainly not exclusively a leather worker, she possesses the design and construction skills to create memorable garments in wovens. In her Spring 2011 collection she displayed that her true signature is not the use of leather, it is her cuts that create her body-hugging silhouette.
There’s an undeniable enjoyment in seeing women who don’t fear their sexuality but also don’t feel the need to push it in your face. They don’t need to flaunt it to own it and its that devil may care attitude that says, “I’m sexy, yes, but I’m relaxed about it,” that makes them attract attention. Elise Overland’s clothing has that spirit too. Whether it was a stunning black high collar dress with transparent squares or the series of beautiful gold and peridot green separates and dresses that closed the show, all of her designs were flattering to the model’s figures. It’s important to say that I believe that same effect would be achieved even if you do not have a model’s figure. That’s part of what makes Ms. Overland’s designs special, she knows how to make many women look and feel sexy in a provocative way without going too far.
In this collection Ms. Overland worked with tiers on a number of pieces. Tiers as a design element have been in vogue again for a few seasons and no longer look as distinctive as they did a couple of years back. Ms. Overland displayed a deft hand by limiting the number of layers and also in how she handled the fabric. She created tiers that were precisely structured and controlled and possessed the perfect amount of stiffness. In a general way that is what makes Ms. Overland a successful designer. She can take any component of fashion design and make it her own, no matter how hackneyed and over used it may be. Marry that with her sexy flair and you have a designer who’s career is moving into a higher gear. For Elise Overland knows that, as in motor racing, the straightaways are exhilarating but championships are won in the curves.
