Guests were greeted by models holding trays with boxes of chocolate made by the Belgian chocolatier Callebaut upon entering the Opening Ceremony show last Sunday. That was only the beginning of a Belgian-chocolate-filled evening, which was appropriate, given that Belgium is the hip multibrand retailer’s country of focus for 2013-2014.
“We said to ourselves what do we do that would be exciting to people who’ve attended a lot of fashion shows?” said Opening Ceremony co-founder Humberto Leon at a talk at the NeueHouse. This season, the answer to that was pour 2,000 pounds of melted chocolate down a white backdrop. “It was us being really nerdy and saying what if we had chocolate dripping down the wall,” explained Leon.
Opening Ceremony fall/winter 2014-15
The scent of chocolate wafted in the air as show goers took their seats, and when the models took the runway, a story that incorporated the Belgian theme played out through a reinterpretation of the country’s famed waffle as a range of quilted fabrics that showed up on leather jackets and parkas. Exposed zippers played a large part on boxy tops that could be reconfigured into custom pieces. Asymmetrical dresses and skirts, as well as more sculptural pieces, were displayed in the women’s collection, while the menswear fused sporty elements with fine tailoring.
Overall the collection proved strong, but we couldn’t help but being distracted by that chocolate dripping down the wall.
Opening Ceremony fall/winter 2014-15
