The final day of Lingerie Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2014 began with an elegant, sophisticated presentation from Layneau Collection. In a market that is rich with cute, trendy, occasionally frilly options for younger customers, Layneau is a true luxury brand (prices in the $850-2500 range) designed for a more sophisticated and mature woman.
“Ameliee” Silk Charmeuse Slip
The pieces are dazzling, in dramatic, luxurious silk, lace, and charmeuse. Many of the pieces are customizable, with options ranging from the addition of lace trims, a beautiful palette of colors, and custom hem lengths.
The Fall/Winter 2014 collection, “Queens and Princesses”, features elegant silk gowns, short and airy chemises, and luxurious velvet robes and bed jackets.
Set to the strains of the Boudreaux String Quartet (and the accompaniment of some bubbly), the collection literally glowed– this silk is SUMPTUOUS.
I wasn’t sure about some of the designs in the lookbook, but seeing them in person changed my mind. They’re absolutely beautiful and impeccably detailed– the lace alone made me gasp. I can see pieces appealing to women of a wide range of ages and personal styles. Some felt light and simple, still others more structured and glamorous.
Layneau is a super, super sophisticated brand. This is luxury lingerie, and priced accordingly, and as a result of that and the elegant, classic shapes, the brand skews a little older, a little more mature than some of the others we saw. I was therefore so, so pleased to see that the presentation featured models in a range of ages.
Not only do I desperately need the long, dramatic, rich purple velvet (and silk-lined) gown with gathered sleeves for all those times I’m sweeping around my ancestral manor home (as one does), how stunning are both of those models? One looks like Sargent’s Madame X, the other needs only a diamond coronet to earn her a spot on Downton Abbey. A beautiful show and a truly beautiful collection.
*****
After the soothing elegance of the Layneau Collection presentation, the Kix’ies Thigh Highs show was a bold, literally acrobatic change of pace.
Y’all might not know this, but I am a HUGE thigh high/stay up fan: they’re my absolute first choice when it comes to hosiery. Stockings are gorgeous, but they can slide down without the right kind of suspender belt, and tights always dig into my waist and make feel bloated and uncomfortable by the end of the day. Thigh highs are my favorite, plus they make me feel vaguely like I could be ready for a cancan at a moment’s notice (Gaîté Parisienne was one of my childhood ballet recitals, and it clearly left its mark), so I had high hopes for a fun, cheeky presentation.
I was running slightly late back to the show, but most of Lingerie Fashion Week ran late anyway, so I got there in time to see three amazing aerialists at work! In addition to the presentation models (including a few familiar faces from the Layneau presentation), Kix’ies featured some really incredible contortion and aerial work from some super limber dancers.
The Lingerie Lesbian asked me at one point during this show if I could do any of the things these dancers were doing, and then I asked her if she was okay, because she’d clearly taken leave of her senses.
I was beyond delighted to discover a pair of Kix’ies in my press bag (the ones with polka dots, no less!), and I tried them out later in the week during Curve. They are, in a word, fantastic, with an incredibly soft and silky feel, a great fit (the sample was a size “B”), and a sturdy-yet-stylish trademark striped elastic and silicon band that does not budge. I’m eager to try another style, and I’d definitely recommend them, even if you aren’t planning to suspend yourself upside down in midair from an oversized spinning hoop.
Kix’ies offers four different sizes for a customized fit, in addition to four different sizes for maternity wear. A portion of every purchase is donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
*****
I’ll be back next week with the final shows from Lingerie Fashion Week, before diving into some trend reports from Curve! It looks like Fall/Winter 2014 is going to be a really strong season– I can’t wait to share it with you! Have a wonderful weekend, and stay warm!
