From glam rocker David Bowie and Klimt’s golden paintings to beach dishabille and fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, the inspirations for these three resort collections from Alexander McQueen, Nina Ricci and Zac Posen resulted in some heavenly fashions.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN 

At Alexander McQueen, designer Sarah Burton came off her uber-femme Fall 2012 collection of exploding dresses like frilly cherry blossoms, by turning down the volume and exploring more pared-to-the-body, lean silhouettes. In fact she cites glam rocker David Bowie as a principal inspiration for her resort collection that walks the tightrope of masculine and feminine. There are sharp but sinuous tuxedo suits with exaggerated peaked shoulders but also gorgeous, fluid jumpsuits with cinched metallic waists channeling Major Tom. For the more feminine pieces, Burton looked to the Orient, to the gold-drenched canvases of Gustav Klimt and to the Egyptomania of the Art Deco period. The result is lavish jumpsuits of birds, blooms and dragonflies, often on gilded backdrops, and amazing pieced snakeskin gold gowns that fit like a second skin with gilded jewelry accents built-in. A shoe with a glitter-filled transparent heel would have made glam god Ziggy Stardust proud.

 

NINA RICCI

Meanwhile, at Nina Ricci, designer Peter Copping  (formerly Marc Jacob's right hand man at Louis Vuitton) also looked to the Disco-era, though not David Bowie specifically, for the louche 70’s vibe for his resort collection. He described it as “beach to disco” with the bikini as a foundational underpinning. This sounds a bit more sexy than the collection that Copping actually produced. He may channel seventies nonchalance, but ladylike refinement and romance is in his designer DNA. The result is a charmingly relaxed but still feminine collection, where even the bikini top revealed beneath a semi-transparent dress with chiffon and feather trim comes off as infinitely Parisian and ladylike. Lingerie, the bikini’s first cousin, was also an obvious influence and overall the looks were diaphanous, breezy, wispy and light in dusty pinks, lavenders and whites with pops of oxblood red to wake everyone up.

 

 

ZAC POSEN

At Zac Posen the designer continued to ply his talent for extravagant ball gowns and elegant hour-glass shaped suits for daytime wear. The use of vintage-looking model Erin O’Connor for his look book only emphasized the bygone glamour he was channeling. These are the types of ultra feminine yet power-house suits, dresses and gowns that the old Hollywood studios would have put Rita Hayworth, Betty Davis and Laren Bacall in.  Posen also cribbed fashion cues from a recent trip to Singapore where the immaculately turned out women sported structured gowns, suits and corsets even in that land’s unforgiving and tropical climate. Closer to home Posen, like Copping and Burton, looked to the 70’s and in particular the languid fashion illustrations of Antonio Lopez for his bombshell silhouettes.

SEE SLIDESHOW OF LOOKS FROM ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, NINA RICCI AND ZAC POSEN RESORT 2013 COLLECTIONS BELOW.