Review of Ester Manas Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Ester Manas Says Yes to the Dress
By Angela Baidoo
The contemporary bridal market has been overdue for a shake-up for the last decade, with most other categories seeing an overhaul due to the entry of innovative young up-starts into the market. So, it was with much excitement, that on reading the show notes for Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre’s brand, named for the former, there was a preview of what kind of collection they had been working on since last season. One focussed around the modern bride and her bridal party, but this was to be unlike a typical white wedding, as the brands signature flamenco ruffles and curve-enhancing cut-outs all still came into play.
Not the most conventional of settings, but the American Church on the Left Bank was an apt location for a show whose teaser on social media featured a diamond ring and the phrase “For Better or Worse”.
Outlined in the show notes that “For the first time …the body is not the subject” – because of the fact that at a wedding “everybody is invited “ – it’s still important to acknowledge that having been such a steadfast champion of all body types season-after-season, the duo have gone beyond the need to make it a part of the narrative in their explanation of todays inspiration. The hope is that as an industry, enough brands can get to the point where they are including a range of both body types and shapes as a matter of course, to the point where it doesn’t need to be a talking point as was achieved by Ester Manas with todays show. It should also be said, that any future brides or bridesmaids bored of the status-quo, can look to the alternative vision of nuptial planning where everybody invited can see themselves adorned for the big day.
Set to the instrumental sounds of ‘Take my breath away’ by 1980s New Wave band Berlin , the opening looks wouldn’t have looked out of place in any of the rom-coms which defined era, especially as the team admit to drawing on several references from the “Chick Flicks they keep replaying”. As a ruffled halter mini and sheer lace body-con wedding dress were followed by the brands well-known bouncy ruffles and ruching, which conveyed a “sugar-sweet romance” as per the notes. It was a pleasure to see, and be talked about, as romance itself seems to have been lost between the reworked ideas around sex and sensuality.
Not forgetting all who have a hand in making a wedding what it is, there are options for the bridesmaid too. But rather than the pressure to wear peach, Manas and Delepierre gave bridesmaids modern-day options in red, black, and blue.
Running with the theme of recycled and repurposing the wedding gown, which was seen on the runway of Prada. Here the duo used mostly recycled lace, tulle, and ribbed mesh. And an evolutionary collaboration was formed with lingerie brand Chantelle X, creating the perfect partnership for the brands playful peek-a-boo looks. Giving their customer – especially those with a cup size larger than a D – a visual reality of how those daring dresses can be applied to real life, and in doing so a mutually beneficial symbiosis came to be, with lingerie that begs to be seen not hidden away.
For the first time at Ester Manas, the body is not the subject. Because, at a wedding everybody is invited. That is where the designer duo Ester and Balthazar take their stand.
Ester Manas
