Kevan Hall named his latest collection Cote d’Azur”, drawing inspiration from a recent family trip to the fabled French Riviera. Romance & the scent of fragrant orange & lemon trees wafted in the air at his Spring 2024 presentation held once again at the 3 West Club, an institution onto itself. The Club’s library room served as an elegant backdrop to the presentation that followed.
Although the show was billed as a presentation, it was an old-school runway show with very experienced runway models who knew how to present the elegant gowns from multiple angles aka “sell the gowns”. Hall & his Casting Director, Renaldo Barnette, are known for choosing models who possess this critically important skill.
Aside from the convincing tableau, what Kevan Hall presented was the main event – the clothes, a highly edited collection of 26 looks. The fashion crowd has a notoriously short attention span & keeping to a tightly edited story line is to everyone’s benefit. Hall continued the design conversation from last season updating what elegant luxury means in the here & now. At Kevan Hall, this means sleek silhouettes & impeccable tailoring executed in the most sumptuous of fabrics such as silk crepes & chiffons.
He kicked off the show, taking the audience to Deauville, a glamorous seaside resort on the beaches of Normandy. Deauville gained notoriety as a favorite spot for Coco Chanel & the Duke of Windsor & Wallis Simpson in the thirties. The socialites who gathered there famously combined the finest jewelry with boyish trousers & blouses popularized by Coco Chanel. She raised the bar by wearing one of a kind Verdura pieces created for her by Fulco de Verdura. Hall’s modern-day interpretation was to partner with Chatham (www.chatham.com), a luxury brand renowned for its luxe laboratory-grown colored gemstone & diamond jewelry. The brand’s innovative approach to replicating natural gem-growing conditions is unparalleled. This collaboration resulted in unfussy pieces of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, & diamonds that enhanced the collection, rather than taking center stage. The only other accessories were the classically elegant Nina’s Shoes (www.ninashoes.com). A highlight of the Deauville segment was #4, a plaid trench coat, worn with a striped shirt & hi-waist pant, very much in the spirit of Mademoiselle Chanel as was #7, a multi-color “Deauville” embroidered stripe jumpsuit.
The best in show was the “Cannes” segment. Cannes is synonymous with the red carpet and considered the biggest European runway to showcase the most spectacular fashion & jewelry on the most beautiful women in the world. The segment showcased Hall’s strength as an evening wear designer who knows that “less is more”. There was a minimalist gown, #22, a coral pebble crepe racer gown that is right in tandem with the “quiet luxury” trend popularized by social media personality, Sofia Richie Grainge.
The showstoppers came towards the end – in looks #19-26. Of special note were #19, a sky-blue bustier gown with ostrich feathers, #25, a jade fil coupe bustier with bow, & the finale which could potentially be a one-of-a-kind bridal gown, a crushed ice Cannes bustier gown. Backstage, we asked Hall about the treatment of the “crushed ice”. He explained that the glass & beads were meticulously hand sewn to create the sparkling effect. This latest collection shows that this designer is the fourth facet of the jewel of American eveningwear design that includes Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, & Halston.
-Vivian Kelly – @thefashionhistorian
