Zang Toi Fall 2013: Bringing Down The House

NEW YORK, Feb 14, 2013/ — Opulent! Magnificent! Luxe! Those are the three words that sum up the Zang Toi Fall 2013 collection. Those are also the three words that come to mind when describing the Peterhof Palace, which happens to be the inspiration for this collection.

A trip to St. Petersburg last year made Zang Toi fall in love with the great city and the historic Peterhof Palace. And from there, Zang Toi started designing his collection, paying homage to the great artisans of a historic era.

“The beading, piping and embroidery were inspired by the architectural moldings of the palace,” says Zang Toi. And the jewelry is a new take on Fabergé eggs, something that is also closely associated with Imperial Russia. There is something that Zang took out though – the classic fur hat!

“Russia had been done many times and there is always the fur hat. I did not include it in the collection because I want to emphasize how beautiful Russia’s architecture is,” commented Zang.

And he did! Every piece is lovely… every exit is grand… every look is opulent… You almost expect a modern Catherine The Great or Empress Alexandria to walk in and say… “That’s it; I’m buying the whole collection!”

With a collection like this, it is hard to choose a favorite. Still, it was the jet silk velvet Peterhof Ballroom gown with gilded imperial garland paired with a jet Saga royal fox stole lined with gilded imperial garland and silk velvet that brought down the house.

The fashion crowd is usually sedate and shows their appreciation by oohs and aahs, followed by clapping. This time, there was the occasional catcall, demonstrating that even the very proper fashion crowd can lose decorum when they see an extraordinary piece.

[MARI DAVIS]