Christian Cowan may be largely associated with dressing New York’s downtown party girls—but for pre-fall, the designer had a different clientele in mind: Old Hollywood starlets. “I’ve always looked to the club scene for inspiration—and that spirit will always be there—but I haven’t been going out as much recently,” said Cowan. “I’ve been looking more and more towards Old Hollywood; I’ve really stepped into a Judy Garland era.”
After taking in classic films such as Mommie Dearest and Valley of the Dolls, Cowan said he was drawn to the glamorous style of stars such as Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, and Faye Dunaway. “Marilyn is always the reference people run to for Old Hollywood, but we’ve seen so much of it,” Cowan said. Instead, through his clothes, he wanted to capture the grand feel of these style icons. “There’s an evening, boudoir feel to it,” he added.
In evoking Dietrich et al, Cowan pared things back this season—a lot. If his party clothes are usually ready for a round of tequila shots, these pieces were meant sipping Old Fashioneds (Marlene’s drink of choice). They just felt more grown up. His simplest piece was a champagne-colored silk slip dress, which was unexpectedly minimal for the often-raucous designer. His signature feathers were also applied more discreetly this time around, like on the cuffs of a black silk-twill trench coat. “It’s actually really easy to wear,” he said.
All this is not to say that Cowan’s fun showmanship totally disappeared. A silver sequin dress featured laser-cut vinyl acetate stars along the hemline. “It’s an evolution of a sequined dress I did for Kylie Minogue,” he explained. A pink dressing gown punctuated with marabou and ostrich feathers—served as a dramatic nod to Valley of the Dolls, while the gigantic Vegas-ready headpiece made of phoenix rooster feathers that went with it pointed to Showgirls.
For his younger clientele, Cowan expanded into denim with blazers and jeans covered in big, chunky crystals, which outlined the shapes of bras and underwear. More tricky to wear, perhaps, was an evening gown with floor-grazing pom-pom strips at the hemline—a tripping hazard. Cowan had a sense of humor about it: “I joke that this is the cat toy dress.”
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