Anthony Franco Spring 2012
A trip to Zihuatanejo, Mexico inspired Anthony Franco’s Spring 2012 collection, shown Oct. 21 at L.A. Fashion Weekend at Sunset Gower Studios. Imagine the beautiful orange, pink and yellow hues of the setting sun merging with the blue water of the coastal city to create its palette and the dewy foliage of the rainforest to create its beading and prints. #8232; Fabrics were custom made including fern prints screened onto silk and an orange and pink lace woven to resemble hieroglyphs on a Mayan temple. Franco hand-dyed some fabrics himself to keep the palette consistent and knits, custom beading and manufacturing were completed in Los Angeles.
This season, Franco focused on making the collection more body conscious and colorful as well as creating dresses that worked for a variety of shapes. “I took some time with my patterns and I did beading that was very complimentary to the body.It was really about fit and silhouette this time,” he said.
He included several red carpet dresses that incorporated hand beading, bias cuts and his trademark corset foundations. Key items such as shirts, jackets, dresses and suits - were also made to be wearable. “I kept it all very easy,” he explained. “I wanted everything to be really light for the women and I wanted the men’s to have structure to it, [and] I introduced fabrics that I hadn’t used before.”
Men’s and women’s suits were made in silk and cotton combinations and knits made from silk, cashmere and cotton yarns. Details were key such as the hand beading on swimsuits and pleating on men’s plaid tuxedo shirts.—N. Jayne Seward Photos from the event can be found here.
