Melanie Sutrathada
Melanie Sutrathadahttp://laceandcombatboots.com/
FWO’s Brand Manager Melanie Sutrathada believes in eating dessert first, always looking for the silver lining, and that you can never be overdressed or overeducated. Say hello at @melaniesutra.

Tattoo You: Tadashi Shoji Spring ’16 Show


Tadashi Shoji: Because You Are Beautiful

Live coverage streamed 9 AM, February 12 at FWO and ABCNews.com.

Tadashi Shoji New York RTW Fall Winter 2016 February 2016Awards season is a busy time for designer Tadashi Shoji. After all, dressing actresses and singers (everyone from Oscar winners Octavia Spencer and Helen Mirren to musicians like Katy Perry) is just one of the notable achievements of the Japanese-born American designer. (And for anyone counting, he’s also dressed Michelle Obama and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe.)

For Fall / Winter 2016, FWO and ABC News came backstage to live-stream the events behind-the-scenes, for a collection that was a bit of a departure for Shoji, involving “tribal, tattoo, bodypainting, and henna. But [unlike a tattoo],” the designer said, “you can wear my body suit, and at night you can peel it off.”

Unlike a tattoo, at night you can peel it off.

The collection marks a transition from more formal evening wear to bodycon suits that would be at home on an Hervé Léger runway, but with Shoji’s masterful cuts and a decidedly youthful aesthetic, evident from the first moments of the North African-inflected techno that kicked off the catwalk.

As award-winning hairstylist Frank Rizzieri explained, the look was “rock and roll cool. We started with something that was very sleek, and it just started to evolve from that.”

True to form, the fall / winter collection involves a painstaking process of creation, with fait à la main elements. “We create it for the body,” explains Tadashi, “and then we put on the rhinestones and studs one by one.”

But one of the most exciting things about Tadashi Shoji is the fact that he has a plus line — something not seen in many high-end designers.

One of the most exciting things about Tadashi Shoji is the fact that he has a plus line.

When asked (by ABC reporter Charli James), “Why do you think it’s important to dress women of all sizes?” Tadashi says:

“Women are all made different sizes. Why discriminate? Small people and large people equally want to be beautiful. I have a background in patternmaking and draping, so I have confidence that I can cut a pattern to any type of figure, to look beautiful and be comfortable. And because of that, they keep coming back.”

Small people and large people equally want to be beautiful.

This trend to the plus size is very one of the most exciting trends in ready to wear, and part of the larger inclusiveness movement we (and others) have dubbed the “fashion revolution.”

Tadashi’s latest collection shows that the down-to-earth designer is involved in a relentless process of reinvention that continues to keep him firmly in step with the times.

But as you can see from these pictures, stunning patterns and pairings bring a timeless elegance to the collection.

In other words: pure Tadashi Shoji.

 
The Collection

[portfolio_slideshow id=11230 align=center width=600 click=advance thumbnailsize=40 showcaps=true]

 
The Show

 
Tadashi Shoji FW 2016: FWO Goes Backstage with ABC News

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With love,

FWO

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