Summary: Designer Farah Angsana says that her SS12 collection is inspired by Eastern culture, drawing from kimonos and Japanese influences. While those objects are certainly fodder for strong inspiration, there are few traces of these elements in this collection — comprised primarily of ballgowns and cocktail dresses with feather and hand beaded embellishments. The shapes are fairly formalized, and garments like a feather-skirted cocktail dress with a sheer bodice and exposed corseting make this notion confusing, at best.
A satin chiffon cocktail dress with floral embellishments and a very structured, voluminous tiered skirt stands out for it pleasantly exaggerated construction. A floor-length gown with gradually enlarged copper ruffles is also attractive in its embrace of volume. But otherwise the collection seems a bit disjointed: wavering from classic to cocktail to costume with very little through-line.
Despite these qualms, the presentation style did lend itself well to showing the collection — the hand beading and intricate embellishments that pepper the collection were well on display in Lincoln Center’s intimate box setting. Angsana should stick with this format for future collections, and hopefully next season we’ll see a stronger embrace of theme, inspiration and consistency.
Colors: Nude, copper, caramel, coral peach, scarlet red, raspberry, orchid, lilac, baby pink ivory, marina blue, aqua marine, baby blue, stone blue
Fabrics and Textures: Silk chiffon, hand beading, silk organza, satin, tulle, jacquard, crystals, feathers, silk faille, draping
Key Looks: Scarlet red satin chiffon cocktail dress with floral organza embellishments; orchid one shoulder hand draped mermaid gown with intricate beading; floral painted hand draped silk organza jacquard cocktail dress; ivory short sleeve embroidered crystal gown with feather trim sleeves.
— Amanda Aldinger
Photos: Style.com
