Christian Cowan’s show day routine probably didn’t look like many other designers’ this fashion week. Before his 8 p.m. time slot Friday, Cowan had a two-hour lunch and took a bubble bath — some would call that diva behavior, but to channel Hollywood screen sirens of yore, it’s best to act like them.
“I love period cinema, so I wanted to evoke this older feeling, this moment before someone steps onstage,” Cowan explained, tucked away in a stairwell moments before the first model stepped onto the runway. “Even in modern times, I think the most exciting part of a night out or a special day is when you’re getting ready.”
He certainly captured the rush of excitement that comes during the process of self creation with lace negligees, their straps sliding off shoulders and hems bunched up on the hip, revealing garters underneath. Ripped and tattered, they had a time-worn quality as if left abandoned on a movie studio lot, only to be rediscovered decades later. Instead of working with new fabrics, Cowan sourced vintage garments spanning Hollywood’s golden era from the ’20s to the ‘50s and upcycled them. “I’ve never worked that way before,” he said. “But it was cool. I found it really, really fun.”
Fun extended to bat-wing sleeve dresses inspired by Diana Ross in “Mahogany,” their backs left gaping to expose “butt-cleavage.” That erogenous zone has taken off lately on the runway and the red carpet, and while controversial, Cowan’s position is, “more, more, more…the world would be a better place with more butt cleavage.”
Sticking mostly to black with touches of navy, maroon and silver crystal, Cowan skewed toward a more mature look than what’s previously been expected from him. A Marlene Dietrich-type dressed in a maxiskirt and pinched bustle jacket trimmed with faux fur captured that poise, striking poses like a couture mannequin. Equally sophisticated were his Poiret-style coats with funnel necks and frog closures.
Perhaps it’s all the time Cowan is spending behind-the-scenes, first with Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway and now on an unnamed film project. But this collection, titled “Before the Door Opens,” opens a new door for Cowan, one he should keep walking through.
