NYC designer Renee Cafaro presents plus size couture runway show at London Fashion Week
LONDON, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — This season at London Fashion Week, Renee Cafaro Atelier opened the day of shows for Oxford Fashion Studio’s Emerge show. Cafaro debuted her Spring/Summer 2024 collection, The Love Parade, named after a legendary music festival. It is a whimsical display of heart patterns, bright colors, and fun textures. Renee Cafaro is a designer from New York who creates luxurious and unique couture exclusively for plus sizes, and draws inspiration from many eras. “This collection is Carnaby Street meets Coachella. I wanted to blend modern, neon festivalwear with psychedelic patterns and mod silhouettes,” Cafaro explains.
The heart theme was not just about bold patterns but also about bold statements. The finale look included a hand-painted satin bubble cape jacket for what Cafaro calls a “collective art piece.” “I wanted to synthesize all of the themes of the collection and mission of my brand into [the final look]. The whole glamour of the outfit evokes 60s movie star style, but I gave it a psychedelic paint job and crystal-embellished it with a statement about self love. I then brought markers to the fitting and asked all of the models to add their own words to it…whatever statement they wish the world would know about being a woman in the plus size community because these models are all incredible activists and influencers in their own right and shouldn’t be treated like just hangers. Most were messages about ‘being enough’ or notes to their younger selves and that made me cry!” the designer elaborated.
The 18-look collection progressed from daywear separates with surprising touches like matching a neon houndstooth slip dress with raincoat lining, heart cutouts and reversible skirts and maxi vests – and it transitioned all the way through to floral and sequined eveningwear. The psychedelic tee-shirt artwork was done by LA-based artist, Subconscious Junkyard and featured a beautiful curvy Lady Godiva-like figure, paired on the runway with her moto/miniskirt sets.
Plus supermodel of Project Runway fame, Liris Crosse, strutted down the runway to open the show in an acrylic raincloud-embellished raincoat to open the show, and once again in a jaw-dropping minidress that Cafaro dubbed, The Porcupine, for its thousands of Barbie pink sequin “spines” and crystals. Trinidadian-born model and influencer Sarah Hamel-Smith wore a groundbreaking creation by Cafaro, long gloves connected by a silk-flowered lattice shawl. “In all my years of obsessing over fashion history, I have yet to see a shawl with attached gloves and thought that would be so cool. I did an attached glove gown a few years ago so I guess I have a thing for gloves!”
Renee Cafaro Atelier is a fair-wage, ethical haute couture design house based in NYC. Dedicated to bolstering the local economy of the Garment District, all garments are created and sourced locally, including her ready-to-wear pieces sold under the brand, RCA Public Label. This September was her first runway show at London Fashion Week.
FULL SHOW GALLERY FOR DOWNLOADS HERE
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SOURCE Renee Cafaro Atelier
