Tadashi Shoji Fall 2014: Romantic details of palaces and stars

Tadashi Shoji has an amazing ability to choose a location and personify the most romantic image of it through clothes. He took his audience to Russia last fall, but this season, he settled on much warmer climes. Inspired by a moonlit Moorish palace, his Fall 2014 collection of dresses and gowns incorporated everything from the building’s architecture to even the stars in the sky outside. With not a single pair of pants in sight and enough lace to make a Victorian grandmother faint, this collection exuded languorous femininity.

While silhouettes remained fairly standard for the red carpet and gala dinner set, the inclusion of capes in two outfits was a bold surprise. One, a floor-length red and black piece fully-covered in crewel-embroidered twisting flowers and vines on tulle, was stunning when paired in dramatic contrast with a white long-sleeved gown blanketed with its own floral corded embroidery.

This attention to detail was replicated in the laser-cut microsuede dresses mirroring rich Moorish tile designs, and continued on to the chantilly lace dresses and gowns. The latter was a bit of a stretch in fitting in with the collection’s theme, but who cares when the end products included a mossy gray dress with a bodice covered with lace pieces so delicate that it appeared as if they were quail feathers?

Photos: Tadashi Shoji Fall 2014 – New York Fashion Week
all photos by Kwai Chan / Meniscus Magazine