Review of Ester Manas Fall 2022 Fashion Show
Redefining Beauty
By Dao Tran
Ester Manas is redefining beauty. The magic of this body celebratory brand is not only how they can change the way women feel about their own bodies, but also how other people perceive them. Clearly, beauty starts on the inside, but it is also inextricably conditioned by social norms and ideals perpetrated by the media which, however consciously or subconsciously, form our visual habits.
Enter Ester Manas, who will open your heart and eyes to the beauty and appeal of every body.
The title of the show, “Come as you are,” is a sensual and libertarian exhortation and the – in their words – “carnal sensitivity” and “sexy sensuality” is abundantly palpable. As the design duo Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre explained in the post-show interview, the lingerie-inspired collection has to do with an artist they admire, John Kacere, an American painter known for celebrating the female form in large-scale images of women’s derrières.
Their color palette and color combinations are also original and refreshing.
They used the word gourmand to explain a driving impulse behind their design, which explains a lot because it’s a lover of good food, and there’s something viscerally delectable to their confections.
It’s not just their specially developed method of fusing elastic into the fabric in order to give it that bounce and amazing fit, but the way they cut and cut out also works with knits.
And because it’s an inclusive brand, it’s also meant to create curves for less naturally endowed figures.
Beyond paying lip service to diversity or throwing a few quota industry approved plus size models into a show, the design duo Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre throw their weight into the mission of trying to shift our scales of perception. I love their energy – it’s clear talking to them that she’s fierce and he’s fiercely in love with her. That confidence and affirmation are tremendously empowering, not to mention infectious. You can feel it and see it in their tribe, with fierce sisterhood forming the core of the brand, captured by the logo of two hands holding that form a heart. Excited for them to grow their following and spread the love.