Peter Copping had the eye of a phenomenal painter in his colours play at Oscar de la Renta Spring 2016 show and the leitmotif was the deep, dark kind of a red carnation.
“Apparently,” said Copping before the show, “they used to throw red carnations into the ring after a bull fight.” That explains why carnation prints were present on the creations as well as some dresses that reminded you of a carnation’s silhouette.
Copping was also inspired by the paintings surrounding bullfighting that he admired at the Hispanic Society of Harlem and he used every bit of colour from the pale blue of a matador suit painted by Goya, to the exact shade of yellow Francis Bacon used in a bullfighting scene, to “the colors of peasant wool embroidery on popular Spanish postcards,” said Copping.
The models had a natural, no-make up beauty, some of them wore a matte red lipstick and their hair was brushed into ponytails.
The show was an unblemished work of art.