Art and High Fashion came together last night and had a party at Katya Leonovich’s presentation of her Fall 2012 collection at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week. Splashes of blues, purples, reds, and grays graced the paintings that hung above the models, an exhibit that could only be
described as “Monet’s Adventure in New York City.” As we turn to the couture, we are met by fierce angled dresses, copper ruched pants, reflected images of iconic buildings found in suits and tights, and Python of plenty.
When speaking to her collection, Katya Leonovich was inspired by what she knew, “It’s my landscape on the paintings, and it’s everything that I feel everyday you know? I need to take things that I really live with and I live in the Flatiron district, so all the buildings are in my paintings and on my prints. It’s all around and I think that it’s one of the most beautiful districts in New York.” With such an exploration of angles and cut outs Katya Leonovich paid particular attention to the female figure and found inspiration in the Classical Beauty. “My education is classic Italian high fashion, what they taught me was, whatever you do, in the end you have to make the woman feel beautiful. I just want to make women beautiful, you know? You can experiment, but in the end you have to make a woman beautiful. It’s a very difficult combination. To experiment with the shape, but still make it a Classical Beauty.”
Her choice of delicate sweptback hair and soft smoky eyes, as well as the choice of music, played key role in this manifestation of the Classic Beauty. “Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, they represent the Classical Beauties. Of course we are living many years after, but it is the essence of the Classical Beauty that I wanted to capture.”
What are Katya’s favorite pieces in the collection? “I like the sleeve that I have created on the olive motorcycle jacket that is a reverse from the traditional, I like the black wool coat that you see, I was playing with the sleeve with the cut out, and I very much like my black leather dresses with the stripes of python. I think every woman can wear this black leather dress, despite her size. Somehow it came out elegant. I don’t make clothes for the super tall and skinny, I make them for every woman.”
The vibrancy of New York City’s Flatiron District meets the rock and roll quality of the leather, python, and copper in Katya Leonovich’s collection. As we snap on our camera lens and put away the ipad, we leave Katya’s show with the assurance that: Yes, every woman can wear Python and has the power to be a Couture Classic Beauty.
