Stephen Goudeau’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection reminded us that fashion should take one on a journey. Making his New York Fashion Week debut, Goudeau, the Dallas-based designer, and label founder, showed his pieces against the backdrop of silhouettes moving across the screen up from the depths of fire and despair to the heights of hope and light.
The collection’s yin and yang are stark and compelling.
On the dark side, Goudeau’s pieces featured, slinky black dresses with draping around the hips and insolent trains. Feather dresses cinched with the designer’s branded SG label belt. Material that served as wings on a racy mini dress extended from the shoulders to the floor, giving the garment a powerful edge worthy of Game of Thrones Dragoon Queen, Daenery Targaryen. Black leather jackets, with the designer’s name scrawled across the back in white, were paired with black feather skirts.
The light of the collection burst out on the runway with white lace mermaid gowns, strapless dresses covered in yards of tulle ruffles at the bottom, and a sleeveless jumpsuit with a dress overlay that gave the illusion of floating. A hand-painted orange and burnt red skirt with a sky-blue combination halter top/hoodie and white feather wings across the back culminated the collection of contrasts and gave the audience a flight of delight.
Goudeau is noted for timeless ready-to-wear pieces along with customized ensembles and wedding gowns. His designs have been worn by A-list celebrities including Tyra Banks, Michelle Williams, and Lil Kim, and have been featured in British Vogue, The Washington Post, and Cosmopolitan.
The line, formerly known as Studio 6th Sense, started in 2009 and focused on ready-to-wear clothing for the everyday woman. In 2012, the brand’s Summer 2013 Collection, “Eat Cake” debuted on the runways of NYC. The label moved forward under the designer’s name “Stephen Goudeau” in 2014 to better reflect his growth and his commitment to having the visions and voices of people of color seen and heard by the industry.