DESIGNS FOR THE SUPREMELY STYLISH

Whether you’re a high-end designer, or you sell schmatas on Delancey Street, rule number one is:  know your customer.  Naeem Khan knows, and caters to, his customer as well as any designer in the business.  His customer clearly likes the good life, and knows how to dress for it.  For most of us, Khan’s clothes are pretty much out of reach.  But what fun it is to dream.

For spring/summer 2013, the theme is clearly a lavish holiday.  It could be anywhere the upper crust travels, the South of France, the south of Florida, the Amalfi Coast.  And this is what they wear when they dine, or party, if they have taste and incredibly toned bodies.

Let’s start with color.  A long-sleeved yellow dress was embellished in black, and intricate, beautiful design.  The same pattern showed up in a strapless gown with a big bottom ruffle.  Another gown has a light lemon skirt with a flower pattern as its strapless top.  It was absolutely incredible.  Skirts were light as air in chiffons with sparkly, beaded tops.  The palest blue gown was slit to the waist, then to the thigh, then decorated with white beads and crystals.

The prints were so bold and powerful, you’d need to be a very confident woman to wear them.  But for the more faint of heart (though you couldn’t suffer much more than a flutter to wear any of these clothes), there were at least more subdued colors.  Beiges, bright whites and patterns in black and grey were all beautiful, fantasy dresses for the red carpet moment in all our dreams.

Nothing wasn’t embellished, whether with beads, crystals, flowers, not even the shoes.  But there is so much beauty, elegance and imagination in a Naem Khan collection, so many wow moments, so many oohs and aahs.  Blinged out caftans were beyond sexy.  Each gown was more breathtaking than the last.  And the next to last was heartstopping, a see-through white with floral embroidery and a flowing feather bottom.

Everyone can dream, about holidays on the Riviera, parties on yachts in the Mediterranean, and owning one perfect Naeem Khan gown.

Photography: Anton Brookes