Anna Maier Bridal Spring 2015

 

Downloads233 How much does Charles W. Bunstine II, the designer of Anna Maier Bridal Collection, love lace? Fashion Reverie counted the ways at the line’s spring 2015 collection. There was Chantilly lace, French Wild Flower lace, Twisted Leaf lace, Magnolia lace, Wild Pansy Lace, plus French Poppy lace—each with a distinctive look.

“We have a history of use of rare lace, in very individual ways,” Bunstine noted in the Run of Show, “here we hope to continue and improve.” Thus the theme of his 41st collection:  “Better”— if that is possible, given Bunstine’s high-scoring design record.

He layered the various laces over double white, rose or champagne charmeuse under dresses in some cases, highlighting the unique lace patterns.  His structural designs included column gowns, ball gowns, slim gowns and duchess gowns.  “We give this dimensionally flat product additional dimensions, and introduce air and movement,” Bunstine says of this collection.  “We mix it amongst the colors we layer it upon and under.  We highlight it. We drape it to give it life.”

 

Collages316“With this work in mind,” Bunstine explained, “my mind couldn’t escape the luxurious lines of 40s Hollywood.”  Whether soft or hard, they were forever fluid and elegant.”  Bunstine brought the timeless bias-cut gown, great for the curvy girl, with designs featuring sleek satin, soft silk charmeuse and superfine wool crepe.

Bunstine created an ivory-colored duchess satin column gown, molded to fit the body, dramatically falling so that the shimmering satin became a voluminous waterfall of fabric. Bunstine duplicated the same effect with a soft white duchess satin column gown with draped and wrapped skirt of a soft natural gazar silk.

But Bunstine did not get lost entirely in lace.  He offered a classy, yet sexy soft white super fine wool crepe V-Neck grown with a dramatic slit and a bit of bling provided by a sparkling brooch embellishment at the side.  For the demure bride he designed a white matte silk gown with empire seamed high neck, but brought the bling with a crystal embellished criss-cross back.

Images courtesy of Ken Jones

Images courtesy of Ken Jones

Bunstine also presented several stellar evening gowns. “Everything we do in white, we do in color.’  I thought we should put some physicality to those words.”  However Bunstine chose to showcase a number of black evening gowns, including a beaded black Chantilly lace gown over graphite double charmeuse, featuring an illusion neckline.  In a design tribute to Madame Vionnet, Bunstine closed his show with a black architecturally seamed duchess gown.

One of the most dramatic standouts of the entire collection was a champagne double charmeuse gown with an overlay of graphite French wild flower lace.  “Working with lace these past years,” Bunstine noted, “I’ve learned more and better appreciated the art and craftsmanship I discover in our mills … We know our effort to today is the best we can execute today seeking better, until tomorrow that is … then again …  better.”

—Francesca Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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