In a room full of art, I’d still stare at you.

The era of romantic maximalism may be over, but I climbed the rainbow on my unicorn onto a wonderland that conjured it back to life. Almost like a well stitched dream sequence.

Alice + Olivia has always played with scenography as a means of inclusion, even in her Pride presentation. And her spring SS20 collection at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) was all about even bolder colors separated into themes that valiantly spoke of divisions in the home. Yours truly evidently wore a signature Cavalli shirt, Twisted Tailor Blazer, Balmain Jeans and Alice + Olivia sunnies!

In the garden, we had the field of dreams with vignette silhouettes of lavender and purple floral motifs crawling on skirts, pencil dresses and ruffled halters, with her signature mini skirts and embelished blazers camouflaging into a field of whiskey, baguettes and flowers aplenty.

And then there were clouds, stemming from a motif of a rainbow itself, and thus hot pink. With models in hot pink sportswear and baby pink loungewear which bordered street style with her signature typography, this time empowering audiences with “Be the best version of yourself”.

The white clouds by comparison had a more sober, monochromatic beige and white amidst wisps of fabric and oversized sandy florals, like a subdued, mature version of Alice’s Wonderland or Dorothy’s Poppy Field. A sultry transition into womenswear beyond the color obsessed millennial.

There was a playpen called “Goodnight with teddy bear”, a tongue in cheek laugh at the state of models in the fashion industry that had remained beneath the surface until the MeToo moments had surfaced. There were bright orange tumbles upon tumbles of bears with models dressed in slinky striped dresses and loose fit overalls and pants, all in black and white, quite a poignant move to symbolize sensuality in the bedroom. Perhaps I was being too metaphorical with the jailstripe look, thanks to my overactive and perceptive imagination.

The colorblock kitchen and veranda hoods of the home were precisely that. A teal to sky blue rendition of ruffled chiffon gowns, oversized tops with capris for a blue tiled kitchen, and yellow summer dresses with asymmetric tulle fabric hemlines for a flirty finish.

By contrast the pastel orange bedroom had a feathery rainbow skirt with colorblocked solids, or oversized capris with cropped blazers. One particular silk skirt with painted scenery caught my eye, reminding me of India and yesteryears.

It was evident that Bendet had put in much thought to conjure up a romantic yet empowering feminine collection that heightened sensuality and maximalism, elevated greatly by the impeccable set design. Truly a lesson in weaving dream sequences.