It’s been 40 years since a racehorse named Escada inspired the brand that redefined women’s wardrobes. We think that’s something to celebrate. And celebrate we did at New York Fashion Week. Under the creative vision of our Global Design Director Niall Sloan, the Escada Spring 2019 RTW collection paid tribute to the Maison’s spirit while embracing a bold future.

The show notes indicate that Sloan found inspiration in the brand’s founding. When shooting one of their first collections at a racetrack, the Leys saw a horse named — wait for it — Escada in the stalls, and a brand was born. The set mimicked a racetrack, grass runway and all.

The real source of inspiration was the film “Pretty Woman,” with a suite of pieces in light tan with white polka dots, loose, summer-y suiting, silky separates paired with brogue flats. Even the makeup and hair, conceptualized by Pat McGrath and Guido Palau, respectively, tapped into Julia Roberts’s early ’90s beauty look.

Seeing as this is the season of tapping into underused brand icons, Sloan took a golden heart motif from an Escada perfume bottle and slapped it on everything from chain belts and oversized bracelets to quilted bags.

Go behind the scenes and watch all the highlights from the Spring 2019 Fashion show, presented by Niall Sloan.