Dries Van Noten Spring 2017 - Runway Review

Intricate embroidery and exquisite bead work are hallmarks of any Dries Van Noten collection. For spring, the Belgian designer’s explosion of floral-filled, earthly delights ranged in an assortment of pieces from T-shirts to diaphanous dresses.

Alluding to a more “brutalist” way of doing things, Van Noten presented his marvelous collection against a backdrop of flowers frozen into four-foot-tall blocks of ice masterminded by Azuma Makoto. The wearable bouquet of garments that proceeded down the runway was heavy on black-and-yellow color combinations, in a cascade ranging from vibrant lemon yellow varsity jackets to bumblebee silk shorts to murky yellow dresses aplomb with black flower blossoms akin to a Rorschach test.

The spontaneity of the collection, not unlike that of a Dutch master painting, had a charming energy to it, its juxtaposition of garments at times unexpected; take, for example, a long denim or cotton drill maxi skirt worn with a beaded high-necked Edwardian blouse with leg-of-mutton sleeves. It looked terrific, of course.

Ranging from classic basic black and white linen smocks and shorts for daywear, the pieces wound themselves through a yellow rose chintz phase and into an evening portion festooning with black balloon-sleeved off-the-shoulder blouses and big taffeta flounced skirts.