USA: Bridal and evening gown designer Reem Acra gives exclusive look at final preparations of her old Hollywood-inspired collection for Spring 2012, which she unveils at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York

Record ID: 644179

  • Title: USA: Bridal and evening gown designer Reem Acra gives exclusive look at final preparations of her old Hollywood-inspired collection for Spring 2012, which she unveils at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York
  • Date: 14th September 2011
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 12, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF REEM ACRA'S SPRING 2012 COLLECTION SHOWING ON THE RUNWAY
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA8UUZ1HR816IXB7I6ERTQX096
  • Story Text: New York-based designer Reem Acra pinned grosgrain ribbon on a dress form, molding the ribbon into a woven corset. She could have been giving a master class in Old World craftsmanship.
    The scene was her Garment District studio in midtown Manhattan. She worked as she talked, giving Reuters Television an exclusive "sneak peek" while she put the finishing touches on her Spring 2012 collection of old Hollywood-inspired evening gowns and cocktail dresses. The collection was presented on Monday (September 12) in her Fifth Avenue showroom during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.
    Acra, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, came to New York City in the 1980s to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has also studied in Paris. She launched her bridal gown label in the 1990s. Since then, her privately held business has evolved into a global brand with a loyal clientele of celebrities, royalty and affluent women.
    The designer made her name with her use of beaded embroidery and Swarovski crystals. A Reem Acra gown, which typically retails for thousands of dollars, is known for inner construction that helps mold the dress to a woman's body in a flattering way. The hand-finished detailing is comparable to the atelier techniques typical of Parisian couture.
    "I was really thinking hard about that woman that really loves my collections and that's following me," Acra said in the interview, when asked about her inspiration for Spring 2012. "We all know that celebrity loves my collection and I know what they're looking for lately. They want to look sexy, but at the same time, they want to look old Hollywood, so how to make this happen is with something very new. I thought, 'OK, maybe the ribbon idea would have that structure, very, kind of very sexy look, but at the same time combining it with chiffons would give that glow and that kind of old Hollywood allure, so I tried to think in the terms of Hollywood and what would they want."
    In Acra's workroom, a seamstress used a delicate touch to feed the edge of a gold beaded chiffon gown through her sewing machine. She held the gown up to inspect the nude-colored corset sewn inside the gown's bodice.
    Next step: Kristen, a fit model for Reem Acra, tried on the gown. It was a long column of gold beads on sheer silk chiffon with slim short sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. Acra pinned the sleeves in to shape them to her arms.
    On the young model, the gown looked as if Hollywood's golden boy, the Oscar statuette, had suddenly switched gender to become a tall, shapely woman.
    In Reem Acra's runway show on Monday, the outline of the model's legs could be seen through the sheer fabric as she walked.
    "The whole brand is about royalty," Acra told Reuters. "We design a lot for royal customers all around the world. I do lots of couture dresses, so there's always this royal look on my mind. Of course, I want to bring it into ready-to-wear. I was thinking, 'What is another good idea?' is really to bring these jewel tones, the jewel prints, into my collection."
    So she showed mineral stones in hot pink, deep turquoise, purple and lavender, placing them gently on a silk printed fabric that mirrored the stones' colors and shapes. She designed the fabric and had it custom made. For her runway show of 25 looks, one of the first was a knee-length sheath cocktail dress in that mineral print with a jeweled clasp at the side.
    Another royal look on her New York runway: a long gold beaded dress that appeared to be bare at the shoulders, except for gold sequins floating on the model's skin. On closer inspection: The sheerest chiffon covered the shoulders.
    In keeping with her old Hollywood mood, Acra's New York runway included a draped strapless gown in lavender silk. She topped the gown with a baby ostrich shrug.
    A memorable look from her runway was a royal blue strapless cocktail dress with a bustier outlined in ribbon.
    In the United States, Acra's gowns are sold in upscale department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York City, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and specialty stores such as Stanley Korshak in Dallas. In the past year, she launched a plus-size bridal business for women who wear sizes 18 to 26; the line is available in a limited number of stores.
    Last November, Acra returned to her roots by opening her first boutique in Beirut, where she was born. The response, she said, was more than gratifying, with 1,500 women showing up to meet the designer. She said she thinks of this store as her base in the Middle East.
    When asked what women in Lebanon would expect, in terms of style, she said:
    "Reem Acra is an American designer. For them, in their eye, I'm an American and truthfully, yes, I am. So they're looking for a combination of this look that has a little touch from them, from the background, from the embroidery and a touch from this American beautiful simplicity, so I'm that combination that puts the two worlds together, that combines the East and the West, and that combines the past and the future."
    This fall, Acra said she is looking to Europe, with an eye to making Reem Acra gowns available in Paris as well as in Switzerland and elsewhere. In conjunction with that, the designer has sponsored equestrian events such as dressage, a competition in which the rider and horse perform to strict equestrian disciplines. She said she will travel to Rio de Janeiro in November to present a top athletic award in dressage. The equestrian sports sponsorships have given her the chance, she said, to make an emotional connection with potential customers for her ready-to-wear and couture fashion.
    In Asia, Reem Acra gowns are sold in major stores in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. Although consumer demand for luxury fashion is rising in China, the designer said she has no immediate plans to expand there, adding that going into China someday is on her list of things to do.
    Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will continue at Lincoln Center and elsewhere in New York through Thursday (September 15th).
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