NYFW: Dan Liu Spring/Summer 2018 Cocktail Dress Collection

The Dan Liu collection of cocktail and evening dresses was inspired by the South Pacific, and not much else.

Barely memorable, I had to refer to a Youtube video to recall Dan Liu’s spring/summer 2018 collection of cocktail dresses. The garments weren’t awful- tidy cocktail dresses in bubblegum colors that look as current as they possibly could. The inspiration was some sort of Polynesian or otherwise Pacific dream- replete with peacock feathers for eyebrows. It was the bizarre detail that made the collection even more concerning and unconvincing. But the icing on the cake was the models. Indeed, the upbeat music ripped from a decent Ibiza playlist played at a tempo the girls couldn’t- or didn’t feel like- keeping up with. Half the coolness of a cocktail dress is the confidence of the girl wearing it. No one on the runway looked happy or confident, eroding the value of the work. A white smock with decent detailing was lost due to the stiff robotic walk of the pretty model wearing it. Someone told these girls this is how you walk. Someone told them wrong. Hair pulled into tame ponytails, cocktail dresses came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but rarely daring to dip below the knee. Waistlines sat too low- ruffles and embroidery at the most unfortunate sizes and compositions. A particularly milky blue seemed to actively work against the shape of the wearer. A simple frock with a white sequined collar served as a sign of life. Liu probably knows what he’s doing, but should stick to these mod pieces before walking too far away down the fabric aisle at Michaels. He has a sense of control with these plain pieces, and should not receive simple as an insult.