MANILA, Philippines - High shine sequins and paillettes are making headlines for summer, with designers shying away from preppy pastels and making a move towards a glimmering sheen that’s part baroque, part Art Deco.
At Gucci, laser-cut fringe on a cocktail dress molds to the body while the slinky form leaves something to the imagination. With the ’40s on Frida Giannini’s brain, Gucci offered jackets with slivers of gold peeking through intricate slits.
Pucci and Moschino offered a blasé take, with insouciant sequins on cropped jackets and minidresses, playfully referencing bullfighters and religious garb found on old plaster saints.
Gold brocade and silver paillettes offset decadent dresses at Roberto Cavalli, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana — a river of shine that’s bound to blind under the harsh flash of a paparazzi camera.
There’s a certain kind of woman who favors sequins — the kind who adores Herve Leger, reads Cosmo and dreams of the day when the next Sex and the City sequel will hit the big screen. But thanks to the offbeat antics of Miu Miu and like-minded labels, sequins are no longer linked to slavish devotees of Blake Lively and other popular starlets. They’ve gained a kind of cool kid glam that tends to downplay the shine with kooky accessories or amp it up in an ode to the balls of yore.
All this means is that, come summer, expect lots of shiny, happy clothes.