alice + olivia: The Rag Trade Meets a VW Rag Top

Translating the fashion babble into an English-like language: The brand’s collection includes bold, striped jumpsuits, high-waisted trousers, cheeky, graphic t-shirts and silky nude evening gowns.

Fashion week in New Yawk City this year sees the Spring Collection of alice + olivia festooning a final edition model of the Volkswagen Beetle. Designer Stacey Bendet’s Spring 2020 fashion staging eschews a catwalk for nine “vignettes” described by Volkswagen as “social-media-ready sets ranging from frothy pink flowered swings to a backdrop of neon orange teddy bears.”

It’s a latter-day version of Janice Joplin’s bathtub Porsche without the superstar musical talent owner or the 1960s backdrop. This century, Volkswagen joined Bendet by displaying its Beetle Final Edition, wrapped in alice + olivia’s quirky hero print for Spring 2020. Guests were able to participate in the set “experience” and take pictures inside and around a whimsical VW Beetle – sort of a Jetta platform on hallucinogens.

The 1960s revisited?

“When the colors are right in a space you exhale and tune into your own interior,” Bendet says. “I dream in color and these rooms are fashion dreams come to life.”

 Launched in 2002 by Bendet, alice + olivia has built a sizable following for its reflection of its founder’s personality. Its line of clothing and accessories can be found in more than 800 department and specialty stores worldwide and more than 20 stand-alone boutiques.

The line was a collaboration between alice + olivia and Murder Bravado designer Everard Best, allegedly a rising star in the fashion world. Best is known for his hand embroidered, dyed and distressed denim, and previously collaborated with fashion designers Virgil Abloh and Heron Preston.

 “With this collaboration, we wanted to bring our vibe and our design DNA to alice + olivia,” Best says. “We applied our signature dying and distressing techniques then exaggerated the length to keep it super fun and over the top.”

 Oh lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz…