One Minute With … Designer Wes Gordon

On one of the hottest days of the season, Wes Gordon‘s light, feminine Spring 2015 show was a breath of fresh air. A celebration of minimalist femininity, it was one of those collections where you could imagine yourself wearing literally everything that walked down the runway. We caught up with the 2012 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist and three-time recipient of the Swarovski Collective before the show.

theFashionSpot: What was your inspiration this season?

Wes Gordon: For spring, I wanted it to be a very tranquil collection, a dialogue between femininity and softness and something romantic, and also clean, crisp, modern, streamlined silhouettes.

tFS: What is your favorite piece in the collection?

WG: I have a lot! I think we have some great dresses this season… I love look one, the black dress is beautiful. We’re actually opening the show with a group of black looks and we’re closing with a group of white looks. The colors are sort of dawn inspired, like soft celadons, blues and blushes with black, optic white and camel grounding it.

image: IMAXtree

tFS: You’re part of the Swarovski Collective again this season. How did this influence your designs?

WG: I’ve been really lucky to work with Swarovski for a few seasons now. I love textures and fabrics and the materials we work with, so with Swarovski, I really have the opportunity to add that extra texture. We did incredible metal and crystal embellishments.

tFS: I know you’re using some interesting finishes for your fabrics today, can you tell me about them?

WG: One technique we did is called salt airbrushing. A woman in Brooklyn did it; the fabric is actually covered in salt and then airbrushed to give it a beautiful, almost marbled, look.

tFS: Can you describe the Wes Gordon woman?

WG: I think she’s confident and she’s looking for pieces that are special, that feel relevant to how she lives her life — but that aren’t sterile. So often, something that’s modern is modern at the cost of any personality or femininity, and it’s stiff and has no soul. With our pieces, we try to give them that little something that makes your heart beat faster.

tFS: What’s your favorite thing about Fashion Week?

WG: I love the show. Leading up to it is crazy, but it’s a nice bonding time with the team, being goofs and eating candy, being ridiculous. It’s stressful and full of anxiety, but the day of the show is magic. When you’re working for months and you see a beautiful model with her hair and makeup, and the music and the lights, walking the runway in these pieces that you’ve been slaving over, it is magic. And then you crash and go to sleep.

images: Imaxtree