Designer Cyril Verdavainne’s Spring 2024 South of France themed collection was a continuation of the conversation started earlier in the week by Kevan Hall – another designer who knows how to craft an impactful evening gown. Both Cyril & Kevan have the requisite skillset to craft beautiful evening wear that complements a woman’s body without ever being vulgar.
The S/S 2024 VERDAVAINNE presentation at Cipriani’s Wall Street location transported the audience from downtown Manhattan to the glamour of the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Cipriani’s Greek Revival building has a bar/library space with a long balcony that served as the show’s runway. The models posed at the end of the red carpet as celebrities would for their photo opp at Cannes. Cyril’s tea length cocktail dresses & evening gowns were crafted from the finest European fabrics such as dupioni silks, satin twill, & brocade. These fabrics have the heft & stiffness that is necessary to execute a luxurious brocade coat & the voluminous skirts of the halter & portrait neck gowns. One can see the influence of working as Carmen Marc Valvo’s right hand on this designer from his years creating structured evening gowns for 15 years. While popular, the brand was a “safe” choice & lacked the excitement & daring & verve of Thierry Mugler’s designs, where Cyril had trained as an illustrator years earlier.
He has been on his own since 2018, when Carmen Marc Valvo closed its doors. From that point on, he has been making his hand-crafted pieces in his Manhattan atelier. While there are shades of what he did at Carmen Marc Valvo, Cyril has incorporated more daring designs for his own collections combined with the color palette (red, white, & blue) from his childhood in Casablanca.
I am done with being safe!
-Cyril Verdavainne
In 2020, while the Covid 19 pandemic stopped the world as we knew it, the designer pressed on, & busied himself planning his next collection. He remembered his earlier focus on being conservative & rethought his aesthetic. He laughed, “I am done with being safe!” He recalled his days in Paris, of the unhinged design mentality of his time in Paris & its lavish fashion shows reignited a flame in him.
For this latest collection, Cyril injected some of the romance of the gowns of the fifties & sixties, most notably in a citron & ivory metallic brocade coat & a chartreuse & navy cocktail dress with a flirty yellow belt bow. The halter gowns, by contrast, presented a nod to the seventies’ love affair with halter necks & slinky silhouettes popularized by Roy Halston. Best in this category were the white & navy Bali print halter gown, a citron toga dress with a ruffle front & a periwinkle & gold floral print shirt gown, also accessorized with a gold bow belt. Finally, there were some designs that hit a minimalist nineties chord, most notably a black brushstroke gown with a severe black sleeveless top ending in a painterly black & white skirt. Like Kevan Hall, Cyril knows that less is more, & how to edit his collection, leaving his audience wanting more. We look forward to the next chapter in this designer’s creative journey.
-Vivian Kelly
