WRITER: LAUR WEEKS
Discover juicy blooms, uniquely textured textiles, fluorescent touches, and a playful energy at Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet for Spring 2024. Bringing charm, cheer, and contemporary flair to the new season, this collection offers something for any age or event with its wide selection of fresh trending styles and accessible shapes built around the movement you need to dance the night away.
INTRODUCTION
The Spring 2024 “Black and White Ball” presentation of Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet brought the playfulness to New York Fashion Week this season with fresh floral motifs in print and applique, monochromatic looks from red to lime, and themes of movement within design. The collection debuted on September 9, 2023 at four o’clock in the evening in a vaulted ballroom with classical art lining the walls and a whimsically larger-than-life set design filled with lively music and fanciful design. The brand drew inspiration from Capote’s Swans and high-society of the 1960s, presenting a renewed vision of the historic time period, and featuring a live DJ set by Nikki Kynard. One can clearly tell that designer Stacey Bendet had a lot of fun playing with proportions and silhouettes in new fabrics this season that spoke to the brand identity of wearable playfulness while bringing a breath of fresh air. The models were chatting amongst themselves with cheeky smiles, and looked like they were having as much fun themselves as the designer was having with their assorted designs. Their slick hairstyles put focus directly on the garments’ sense of playfulness, and recurring crop silhouettes conveyed appropriate youthfulness at any age. The show’s invitation for guests proudly encouraged attendees to “be your own work of art” in painted strokes, and this same spirit of freedom echoed within each presented look.
Both the new garments and inspired cocktail drinks were flowing as guests of the presentation mingled cheerfully through the staged collection, set in monochromatic sections amongst giant toadstools, a larger-than-life tea set, and painted thematic backdrops that made for an absolutely stunning set design. The looks were majorly airy or cropped, keeping with a theme of allowing for movement within design – from floor-length gowns to sleek pale denim, the collection held an appropriate outfit for any level of sophisticated event at any age, which is no small feat!
OVERVIEW
Floral motifs appeared in both print and applique form, paired with floating silk chiffon fabrics, monochromatic edged tops, slightly cropped culottes, and heavy jewelry for models. Touches of three-dimensional appliques brought the drama alongside a bold color palette of rich red, sunny yellow, stark white, black, and touches of contrasting pastel peach and bright lime. Stacey Bendet gives us options – take your choice of either a long organza train or a prim satin short in fluorescent peach for your next Spring soiree: both options are perfect for allowing movement and dancing the night away. Somehow equally casual and upscale, light washes of denim with wide legs would also pair perfectly with the collection’s trending pointer-style tops with thick borders for a bit of daytime drama.
STANDOUTS
Style standouts in the collection were plenty, due to its hugely versatile offering of looks for any event. One of its most eye-catching facets were this season’s signature textiles – for example, an elegant woven leather textile, most notably shaped into an uber-cool short and bomber jacket combination and styled with mod go-go boots to the knee. This woven leather texture featured in both bright and dark tones in a range of designs, styled with notable thick stacked bangles and an open front top that added edge to a long bell-bottom flared pocketed pant. Floral motifs were fresh as well, manifesting in a large trompe l’oeil bloom pattern done in oil paints of red and blue, instead of the more conventional watercolor florals we’ve seen brands use in recent seasons. Shimmering tweed in metallic crisp white also stood out, especially when formed into a long crystal-bordered blazer, tiny crop top, and sweeping maxi-length A-line skirt three piece set.
Unique combinations like this spoke to fresh trends for Spring, as well as a few returning notes. Fresh this season were 3D textured boleros, peekaboo tulle skirts for a statement shoe moment, and leather gloves with Mary Janes – an unexpected combo, but one that worked seamlessly together when paired with a muted shift dress shape that stood out due to its bright red oversized rose applique. Returning to the cool girl’s mood board for Spring, crystalline denim hemlines and diamonte-bordered crisp cuts on jackets and tops made an appearance again from prior seasons. Fully bedazzled column gowns as seen in brands including Self Portrait and Area are also here to stay with a shimmering silvery-white crystalline offering in Bendet’s own interpretation for Spring at Alice + Olivia. On the other hand, a contrasting femme take on menswear also continued, as seen in a long dark organza skirt with a button up ballooned crop top in a white cotton-look fabric. The look felt like a sophisticatedly cheeky nod to the “next-day” chic of a woman borrowing her male partner’s closet after a night out for the walk home. This sense of effortless style featured overtly across Bendet’s new season designs, especially in a clinging off-shoulder white gown and matching draped white top with a 90s-reminiscent long thin neck scarf. Funky, fun, fresh – as anticipated, Alice + Olivia brings it all for the stylish woman for Spring while yet remaining approachable and lighthearted.
CLOSING NOTES
The Alice + Olivia brand creatively spearheaded by Stacey Bendet consistently champions the corner of whimsical meets sophisticated, and the Spring 2024 offering does not disappoint with its storybook presentation of fanciful cheer. Both continuing trend highlights and fresh takes on style setting for the new season prove the talented versatility in design we’ve come to expect from Bendet. With a unique standout look available for absolutely anyone for any style of event, Alice + Olivia continues to remain at the forefront of the creative woman’s closet lineup, through contemporary designs that empower the wearer to feel confident, trendy, modern, and beautiful.
CREDITS
Written by: Laur Weeks
Photography: Getty Images
Designer: Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet
PR: Lede Company
Venue: 48 Wall Street
Jewelry: Angara
Makeup: Too Faced and Pro Lash
Hair: Sola Salons using Living Proof products led by Matthew Curtis
Skincare: HigherDOSE
Special thanks to: Gorgie and Pop Up Bagels
