fashion designer | Chic Vic

J’adore Dior, but Maria Grazia Chiuri’s got me feeling the blues.

I’m finally all caught up with runway shows just as fashion week wraps up in Paris. Christian Dior’s was one that I particularly liked for its single unifying theme: the color navy. Chiuri, the artistic director at the fashion house, dubbed navy as the only color that can challenge black, and it makes so much sense. It’s the perfect color that can go both with cold hues like slate gray and jet black, yet just as easily complement warm neutrals like butterscotch brown and cafe au lait beige.

The fall collection proves that navy – and lots of it – is the answer to everything. It’s polished, timeless, crosses gender lines, and is an all around versatile neutral. Ranging from feminine looks straight out of a fairytale, to the fairly utilitarian and everything in between, there’s not a navy look that didn’t tickle my fancy. I’m currently coveting sultry sheers, textured knits, and structured overcoats in nothing but navy.

Seems like I’ll be trading in my new look for a new look all clad in navy.

“Walk like you have three men walking behind you.” – Oscar de la Renta

He could’ve just as easily said “walk with confidence” but that would be banal, wouldn’t it?

Indeed, everything about the late designer Oscar de la Renta is full of style and grace. Born into a family of diplomats and businessmen, he was almost destined to go down the same path. Luckily, his mother encouraged him to pursue his dreams in the arts, which he did, and later found his passion in fashion. From his apprenticeship at Balenciaga to his later work at Lanvin and Elizabeth Arden, de la Renta gained the skills and experience necessary to lay the foundation to become one of the most famed couturiers and ready to wear designers today.

De la Renta leaves behind the legacy of his great fashion empire, one that spans five decades. He once said, “My role as a designer is to make a woman feel her very best.” Indeed, that couldn’t be more true. From dressing famous celebrities to First Ladies, de la Renta’s gowns have always been timeless, classic, and elegant as the women who wore them.

Thank you for blessing the world with your incredible talent.