VERDAVAINNE took Cipriani Wall Street for Spring/Summer 2027, starting inside the landmark’s private restaurant and running the show out onto the balcony, where the models walked a red carpet between granite columns. It is a setting that will overpower a timid collection. This one was not timid.
The label was founded in 2018 by Cyril Verdavainne, who spent 25 years in the industry on a route that ran from Casablanca to Paris to New York before he started designing under his own name. The house does handcrafted eveningwear, and it has been consistent about print, color and sculptural shape since the beginning.
The show opened in red, with a swimsuit worn under a red cape and a wide red hat, and then went where this house always goes: original hand-painted florals blown up to a scale most designers would not risk. A golden yellow high-low gown was splashed with oversized blue florals, slit at the front and trailing a train at the back. A multicolor floral ball skirt was anchored by a crisp white pleated halter bodice and finished with a matching floral top-handle bag. Chartreuse corded lace over a lilac ground gave the room its sharpest contrast, its sculptural robe running the full length of the gown.
“This collection is about a woman in full bloom, confident in color, at ease in her own silhouette,” Verdavainne said. “I wanted every print to feel like it was painted just for her and every waist to feel like it was cinched by hand. That’s the difference between a dress and a VERDAVAINNE.”
He is specific about the house signatures doing the work. “This season is our most floral yet. Original prints, sashes, bows, that Trapunto stitch we’re known for, all in colors that feel alive,” he said, adding: “The American woman doesn’t want to disappear into a dress. She wants a dress that moves with her, that photographs beautifully, that makes her feel like the best version of herself the moment she walks in the room. That’s what Spring 2027 is built for.”
It closed as it began, in red, on a one-shouldered taffeta ballgown with the bodice gathered into soft ruching above a sweeping skirt. Between the two red bookends the collection ran through leaf prints on white, blue damask, a blue mermaid gown cut close to the floor, and a long stretch of yellows.
The FVM read: the Wall Street balcony is the most photographed backdrop of the week for a reason, and plenty of designers borrow it hoping some of the grandeur transfers. Verdavainne did not need it. Prints at this scale are a bet that the clothes can carry a big room, and the collection collected on it. The catch is the same one this house always faces: at this saturation, a single print has to be right, because there is nowhere for it to hide.
VERDAVAINNE is at verdavainne.com.
Images courtesy of VERDAVAINNE and VERY New York. Runway photography: Jason Moy.
