Creative Directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia began the Oscar de la Renta Fall 2018 collection with a memory: a trip taken years ago with Mr. de la Renta for a private viewing of the cloisters in upper manhattan. The medieval museum served as a starting point, leading them to look at elizabethan textiles and mystical tapestries for inspiration.

A runway was built against a backdrop of soaring marble columns and magnificent painted vaulted ceilings. The inspiration could be seen in the rich fabrics, baroque prints, parchment paper hues and elaborate embroideries running throughout. Here, snapshots from behind the scenes on the day the lauded collection debuted.

Oscar stalwarts will recognize the familiar fit-and-flare silhouettes of these party dresses, but their sheer lace bodices will speak to a younger generation. This was a pretty collection, abloom with flower prints and embroideries, and featuring rich textures from lustrous velvet to nubby raw silk. It was inspired by memories of a trip they took with Oscar to The Cloisters to see—or rather hear—a Janet Cardiff sound installation. That led them to “enchanted forest” tapestries and the Elizabethan era, which they handled lightly and rightly, save for  some quilting here and there and a few hyperbolic bows. The collection’s strength was its eveningwear, as it often was De la Renta’s.

Sarah Brannon discovers the Fall 2018 collection in this film by Fabien Constant.