It was a big season for Vivetta — the design team’s first solo runway collection following the exit of the founder and namesake designer, Vivetta Ponti, in June. The team found inspiration under the sea and on sandy beaches with a sexy collection brimming with sheer fabrics in seafoam green, anemone pink and marine blue.
Sexy is new for Vivetta, a brand that made its name with frills, oversize cotton collars, trompe-l’oeil designs and a love of the surreal. This time, saucy sirens floated down the catwalk in sheer harem pants and cropped tops, see-through baby-doll dresses and Empire waist gowns, some with gold panels adorned with mermaids.
A sequin-slicked minidress came with a flirty little bustle, while a sheer blue jumpsuit with a white sailor collar was fit for a dancer in the musical “South Pacific.” It wasn’t all sheer. The team plied weightier silk into voluminous gowns and skirts in shades of oyster and dark blue, some of which were adorned with stripes made from tiny red beads.
The team also slipped in a few surreal elements — as if the mermaids weren’t enough. They came in the form of fish-shaped shoulder bags dangling from long chains, shoes with sea urchins instead of kitten heels, and little gold starfish and seahorses pinned into models’ hair, dangling from chains or planted randomly on the body.
It was certainly a departure, and the colors were soothing, but there was way too much on the runway, and the collection lacked focus. Even mermaids need to narrow down, and sharpen up, their watery wardrobes now and then.