Where most labels have one, or maybe two brands under their wing, and perhaps a diffusion line especially in these recessionary times, Trelise Cooper is somewhat different. She has a veritable stable of brands…
Where most labels have one, or maybe two brands under their wing, and perhaps a diffusion line especially in these recessionary times, Trelise Cooper is somewhat different. She has a veritable stable of brands. Although Trelise Kids is going on school holidays shortly, she has Trelise Cooper, COOPER by Trelise Cooper, Trelise Cooper Eyewear, and the newly launching Boardroom, a line of less expensive corporate women’s suits.
Now, an edgier youthful label COOP has appeared; a brand new label in stores now for Summer 2011 designed by Alexandra Dunn and Lauren Connelly, and backed by Trelise Cooper.
This is a label targeted squarely at the younger market, perhaps not the usual target audience for a Trelise Cooper client, but perhaps for their daughters, who will grow into the Trelise Cooper label later.
There were short, short skirts and lace top stay ups on pretty much all the models, as well as tight pants, patchwork jeans, and leatherette biker pants with short leatherette skirts all in basic black.
With lots of muted greens, and greys, the vibrant splash of colour is the violet pink.
The collection featured lots of embellishment in the form of zips, leather, lace, fur and button detailing down the back of the dresses. They need to be careful these retain good taste and keep some irony or they can go the other way in the tastefulness stakes.
We liked the orange dress with leg o’ mutton sleeves and the pretty bronze sequinned miniskirt. There was a lovely stitched pleated silk detail on some of the dresses, on the hemline and sleeves, and on a striking pink off-the-shoulder dress.
As with Trelise’s own collections this was a large one that we think would have benefited from a smaller, tighter showing and judicious editing.
The two young designers Lauren Connelly and Alexandra Dunn take the stage after the show, pretty much looking like this collection was designed for them to wear. In fact they could have modelled the clothes themselves!
Below: The M.A.C Face Chart for the runway makeup for COOP at New Zealand Fashion Week 2011 created by key make-up artist Amber Dreadon for M.A.C Cosmetics with the inspiration “Futuristic Girls From 2050, Glowing Dreamy Skin, Untouched By The Sun.”
By Megan Robinson and Anya Brighouse
Photography Megan Robinson using Casio EXH30BK
30 August 2011
Leave a Reply