With models resembling skeletons wearing black fitted frontal skull caps and bold black lips Sally LaPointe's Spring-Summer 2012 collection actually was brought to life by death. Inspired by the Renwick Ruins an abandoned small pox hospital on Roosevelt Island the 26 looks making up the collection are both strong yet sultry. With a mix of sheer chiffon draping and a structured shoulder this collection is romanticism at it's best. LaPointe effortlessly throws together blacks, dusty roses and moss tones and even that pop of neon that has caught designer fever. Named one of fashions 10 next big designers to watch this dark haired beauty has already carved her name into the fashion power scence when none other than the monster herself, Lady Gaga, took a liking to her collection. Now the only thing left to wonder is what item Gaga will be stealing from Lapointe's racks come next week?
MARY WAYMAN - Sally can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration behind this line?
SALLY LAPOINTE - This season I was inspired by the Renwick ruins. It's an abandoned smallpox hospital on Roosevelt island in New York. I was driving up the FDR in a cab and saw it. It was a whole front of an abandoned building. So, it's about the idea of what once was, an unknown romanticism and feeling the presence of what used to be the space that is not anymore.
MARY - I think you're one of the few people that's been inspired by smallpox to design an entire line, but that's really great. What are some of the key trends that we can see from your line?
SALLY - I think for this season I tried to soften it up a little bit. My architectural/modern lines and shapes is something that people have really responded to. I challenged myself to do that, but soften it a little bit and bring a little different side to it, so it's finding a balance of the hard-soft to the feel.
MARY - I know that you've gotten a lot of your clothes onto Lady Gaga's back, and it's amazing. Do you see her in anything that you have here? Has she worn anything already that we don't already know about?
SALLY - Nothing from this collection, but last season it was about half a week after our show that she started pulling pices from the collection, so maybe she might be into some of these pieces.
MARY - I see a lot of black and earth tones, but then I see the neons hidden over there. That's a big trend I see in a lot of other shows. How did that come about for you? Where did that come from?
SALLY - I did want everything to look as a wash of colors, one color going into the next, and a lot of powdered color, there's a powdered pink and powdered green. The yellow, I think I saw the fabric and was drawn to it. It's an ultrasuede, and we dyned all the silks and jerseys to match that color. It's that pop of color in the middle of the runway.
MARY - It's great talking to you Sally and I'm excited to see the show. Good luck!