Dennis Basso Debuts Spring Collection With Help From Susan Lucci

Dennis Basso presented an overtly feminine collection Monday at the event venue 583 Park Avenue with help from former “All My Children” actress Susan Lucci. The crowd got a surprise out of her finale walk to Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman.”

After the show, Lucci said she had eased her pre-show nervousness by talking to herself reaffirmatively. “The whole inspiration was celebrating the age of possibility and how women of all ages can look beautiful,” Basso said backstage. “There were things in this collection for the young woman, the medium woman and the older woman so it was a little bit sexy, demure, mature and young.”

Intergenerational dressing is not a new concept for the designer, who enlisted Cornelia Guest last fall to walk in his show. He also bannered his New York City production on the cover of his show notes. Making clothes that “are of a certain price point” in New York City heightens the importance of local production, Basso said.

The lineup featured a few key Pantone colors, namely Lime Crème, like the off-shoulder dress worn by Lucci for the finale; a Limpet Shell silk satin gown with braided straps, and an Orangeade floral silk chiffon cocktail dress with handmade petal accents. His silk chiffon dresses were standouts, especially a coral-colored pleated cocktail dress with a pussy bow and bell sleeves.

As a nod to his 31-year run at QVC, which has its own “Age of Possibility” initiative, Basso featured multiple styles from that line as well. The designer was due to host Monday night’s “Dennis & Friends,” a two-hour live QVC broadcast from 583 Park Avenue with Nicole Miller and Isaac Mizrahi on the roster. Basso said he expected to sell between 30,000 and 40,000 units of the QVC trenchcoat that was featured in the show.

“Everybody wants to look pretty. And you know what? Diana Vreeland said a zillion years ago, ’You don’t have to be born beautiful to be wildly attractive.’”    

Lucci was also on board with that outlook. “What’s wonderful about fashion now is the openness to self expression. It’s much more unique and people are freer to be themselves and to express themselves through fashion.” The Emmy winner, who logged 41 years on ABC’s “All My Children,” is trying on a few new personas. She just finished filming Jonah Hill’s new film “Outcome” with Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz in a role that she is not yet at liberty to discuss.

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