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What does it mean to be a diva in 2011? In this day and age it could mean anything, really. In all their flamboyant permutations, the Divas took front row at Kati Stern's Fall 2011 Venexiana
show tonight. From Reality TV divas (Real Housewives of New York's Alex McCord and New Jersey's Danielle Staub), to a runway diva (J. Alexander), and even an actual beauty queen
diva (Miss US Virgin Islands - Janeisha John). To accommodate all these facets of Diva-dom, one deals with the essentials of not just what chic women today should be wearing, but
moreso what she dreams and wishes she could be wearing. You've got the fantasy - the rest is brawn and guts, which is precisely what Kati Stern imbues into her robust dream gowns
season after season, and this last collection was no exception.
Looking around backstage there were black tweed bodices, shearling jackets, purple fur coats, Lurex tweed, plaid pencil dresses. It was hard to find a connecting thread. When asked,
Stern said there wasn't one. "It's just Venexiana." It's not a familiar sight to see Stern working with some of these materials - the tweed and the use of plaids in particular. Mixed with her
usual femme fatale noirish sensibility, these somewhat Scottish flourishes took Venexiana to a level that is dually more accessible while creating more awe and wonder than possibly any
of her previous showings. "This is what I'm all about," said Stern backstage, holding the opening garment - a short black leather dress with a black and tan tweed bodice. "This is my first
love right here. Leather and tweed. I started from there."
Sending 69 garments down the runway - that's pumping fashion iron. It wouldn't be Venexiana as we know it without that infectious bombast. Which is not to say that it's all candy without
substance. One of Stern's best handled zany conceits came in a strapless green silk gown with a black overlay of crisscrossing stripes that gave the effect of an effervescent plaid. Keeping
on track with the sister-dress trend that's been developing this week, Stern showed a genius gold nail head one-shoulder dress only to unveil it in the form of a gown with a train two
dresses later. That gown is destined to be vintage couture.
So after showing a collection with no real connecting thread, besides her very fertile imagination, what other flights of fancy does Stern see on her horizon? "I am going to start working on
menswear for the first time." You heard it here first folks.
show tonight. From Reality TV divas (Real Housewives of New York's Alex McCord and New Jersey's Danielle Staub), to a runway diva (J. Alexander), and even an actual beauty queen
diva (Miss US Virgin Islands - Janeisha John). To accommodate all these facets of Diva-dom, one deals with the essentials of not just what chic women today should be wearing, but
moreso what she dreams and wishes she could be wearing. You've got the fantasy - the rest is brawn and guts, which is precisely what Kati Stern imbues into her robust dream gowns
season after season, and this last collection was no exception.
Looking around backstage there were black tweed bodices, shearling jackets, purple fur coats, Lurex tweed, plaid pencil dresses. It was hard to find a connecting thread. When asked,
Stern said there wasn't one. "It's just Venexiana." It's not a familiar sight to see Stern working with some of these materials - the tweed and the use of plaids in particular. Mixed with her
usual femme fatale noirish sensibility, these somewhat Scottish flourishes took Venexiana to a level that is dually more accessible while creating more awe and wonder than possibly any
of her previous showings. "This is what I'm all about," said Stern backstage, holding the opening garment - a short black leather dress with a black and tan tweed bodice. "This is my first
love right here. Leather and tweed. I started from there."
Sending 69 garments down the runway - that's pumping fashion iron. It wouldn't be Venexiana as we know it without that infectious bombast. Which is not to say that it's all candy without
substance. One of Stern's best handled zany conceits came in a strapless green silk gown with a black overlay of crisscrossing stripes that gave the effect of an effervescent plaid. Keeping
on track with the sister-dress trend that's been developing this week, Stern showed a genius gold nail head one-shoulder dress only to unveil it in the form of a gown with a train two
dresses later. That gown is destined to be vintage couture.
So after showing a collection with no real connecting thread, besides her very fertile imagination, what other flights of fancy does Stern see on her horizon? "I am going to start working on
menswear for the first time." You heard it here first folks.
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POSTED February 12, 2011
Venexiana's Kati Stern Pumps Some Fashion
Iron Once Again for Fall/Winter 2011
Iron Once Again for Fall/Winter 2011
By Alexander Patino
