CHRISTIAN SIRIANO AUTUMN/WINTER 2015-16 READY-TO-WEAR NEW YORK

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is: Christian Siriano’s client wants color. And lots of it! So that’s what he gave her, inspired by a dream trip to the Congo rain forest. (Siriano hasn’t made it there just yet.) “She’s not shopping for another black coat,” he said backstage before the show. “It has to be something that she almost hasn’t seen before.”

To achieve that, Siriano worked quite a bit with patterns and texture. His fancy-lady day looks were heavy on the animal print: There was a sleeveless sheath dress in tiger cashmere, and a flouncy number in zebra crepe. He also used fuzzy alpaca in wine-red and camel to create cozy, multidimensional turtleneck dresses and topcoats.

For evening, he went with traditional ball gown silhouettes but did them up in floral taffetas and ombré chevron. Some of them felt played out, like the crop top and full-skirt set, and an off-the-shoulder number that sort of bulged at the tummy from under a belt. But others were inspired, including a belted blue-and-brown taffeta coat with bell sleeves. The pieces decorated with black and white ostrich feathers were a big success: They floated down the runway as beautifully as they will the red carpet. Just to even it all out, Siriano threw in a black silk illusion-wrap gown. Despite how subtle it was compared to the rest of the collection, the fit guaranteed that it’ll garner attention.

Sure, the 47-look collection could’ve used an edit, but when it worked, it worked really, really well. ​