Basil Soda’s Winter 2010-2011 Couture collection takes us on a Phoenician quest. The Lebanese couturier draws inspiration from contrasting colors and shapes to honor the inner beauty of all women.
The Lebanese couturier invites us to set off in search of a woman half-real, half-imaginary, whose features seem timeless, whose age is indefinable, this woman within us. And he calls on the ancient people of Lebanon, the Phoenicians, to offer us draped strapless cocktail dresses and evening gowns in a tribute collection highlighting each woman’s goddess-like silhouette.
With each model, the designer aims to bring to light the mythical woman lurking in the shadows, and to do so, he has worked on each cut like an architect. His favorite piece is the strapless gown, with different types of bustier, one reminiscent of ancient Phoenician dresses, the other more asymmetrical. Some of the dresses are embroidered with gold leaf, while others are much softer, all in transparency.
We find the long dress so dear to the designer, but the drape is accompanied by gold embroidery forming sumptuous arabesques. The Lebanese designer didn’t just use gold on the drape, he multiplied the gold embroidery on these dresses, forming ornaments and jewels on the dresses.
Some bustiers are inspired by ancient Phoenician dresses, with a new form of round décolleté, and a few adornments to emphasize the décolleté.
Other dresses take on an animal look in a spotted drape. The designer also offers sumptuous, highly structured zipped jackets worn with cigarette pants, or this delicately belted vest over a spidery waterfall.
For next winter, the Lebanese designer offers everything from silk chiffon to translucent sable, again demonstrating his taste for refined materials.
As for the tones in this collection, blue zircon, black and fuchsia blend boldly with more subtle and discreet tones such as nude pink and off-white.
And the highlight of the collection: the long, virginal strapless wedding gown, embroidered in silver, with a cascade of tulle as veil, but resolutely elegant.
Basil Soda knows how to create exceptional evening gowns that reveal the splendid woman in each of us. But by returning to his roots, he has reinvented the dress, working with more metallic drapes and new bustier shapes. The designer wanted to take us on his quest for the Phoenician woman, and he found her, and us with her.
Marie-Odile Radom
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