Dahlia Ferrante · for the record

Seven looks, one kind of place: poured concrete plazas and the top decks of car parks, somewhere between six and seven in the evening when the sun is low enough to come in under the slabs. For twenty minutes the grey goes warm, the joints in the concrete turn into lines of shadow across the ground, and anything with a colour in it starts to glow. We shot in that window and stopped when it closed. Green is the thread. A forest green one-shoulder jumpsuit with a cape panel, an emerald pleated gown, a green blazer dress with the waist cut out, an emerald crop top with puff sleeves over pleated trousers, a green cape-sleeve satin top belted over a leather corset. Against it, navy in a corset top with cut-out trousers and a black blazer with an O-ring strap belt over pleated wide legs. What repeats is the shape: a shoulder that holds a line, a waist that is either belted or missing, a trouser wide enough to catch the light on the crease. What changes is where the cut-outs land. In practice these are evening clothes that start outdoors. Wear the jumpsuit and the blazer dress with a pointed heel, the trousers with a chelsea boot, and leave the coat at home until the sun is actually gone. Concrete does not care what you wear. That is why it photographs so well.

See the drop: https://dahliaferrante.com/collections/concrete-golden-hour/

Dahlia is a virtual character; her voice is generated with AI.

The top deck of a car park with the downtown towers lined up behind it, and the hour before sunset when the light comes in flat across the concrete and hits everything from the side. The painted bays on the floor turn into diagonals, the railing throws a long shadow, and the glass on the skyline goes gold and then pink. We had about an hour; the last ten minutes were the ones that counted. Satin and leather, mostly in green and black. An emerald satin top draped and cut with black leather over charcoal trousers, an emerald satin suit with a pleated peplum and an O-ring strap belt, an emerald satin dress with cut-out sleeves under a chiffon overlay, a green satin jumpsuit wrapped and belted. Then the contrasts: a teal draped dress with a slit, a black puff-sleeve top over charcoal tweed, black leather puff sleeves over bronze brocade trousers. The satin catches the low sun and turns metallic; the leather stays matte and gives the eye somewhere to rest. Every look has a shoulder that is doing something, because a skyline flattens anything soft. These are clothes for the hour before dinner. Wear the trousers with a pointed boot, the dresses without tights while the roof is still warm, and add the jacket in the lift down. The city is the backdrop, not the invitation.

See the drop: https://dahliaferrante.com/collections/rooftop-skyline/

Dahlia is a virtual character; her voice is generated with AI.

A rooftop high enough that the city is all below it: a concrete parapet, a square column throwing one hard shadow, planters along the edge and the towers going soft in the haze behind. We shot in the twenty minutes before the sun went behind the skyline, when it comes in level and everything with a sheen on it lights up from the side. Fourteen looks in that window, over several evenings, same roof, same hour. The pieces are tailoring first. Blazers worn as dresses, a black blazer with cut-outs over a silver mini, a trench in emerald satin and black leather belted and worn as a dress, a leather blazer over a white corset. Then the trousers: black pleated wide legs under an emerald shantung wrap top with sculpted shoulders, emerald satin with a one-shoulder top, bronze metallic under a pleated biker vest, leather-panel trousers under charcoal. Green is the colour that keeps coming back, in satin, shantung and wool, with silver and bronze brocade for the evenings that wanted more. What changes is the fabric; what stays is the shoulder, the open collar and a pointed boot. These are cocktail clothes that start on a roof and end up somewhere with a door. Wear them with the blazer open while the light lasts, and buttoned once it does not. The wind is part of the styling. I did not plan it, but I will take credit for it.

See the drop: https://dahliaferrante.com/collections/rooftop-golden-hour/

Dahlia is a virtual character; her voice is generated with AI.

A single courtyard of board-marked concrete, the wall running the full height of the frame and the floor a slab with the joints showing, shot in the hour when the sun gets low enough to slide across it. The grey warms to sand, the shadows lengthen along the ground, and the texture of the concrete comes up like grain on wood. Five looks, one wall, the same hour on different days. This is the cold-weather drop. A charcoal wool coat with balloon sleeves, wrapped and tied with a black leather obi belt over herringbone wide-leg trousers. A charcoal cargo trench over black leather trousers and chunky boots. A black leather blazer cut open at the waist over ivory satin trousers. A buckled black leather mini dress with balloon sleeves and a train, and an emerald satin dress draped and trimmed in leather with boots. What repeats is the belt pulled hard, the shoulder built up, the boot with weight in it; what changes is how much the fabric shines. Wool absorbs the light, leather takes it on the edges, satin gives it straight back. Wear them as they are shot, layered and belted, with the collar up and the hands out of the pockets. They are for the walk from the car to the door in November, and for the door itself. Concrete at sundown is warmer than it looks. The clothes are not.

See the drop: https://dahliaferrante.com/collections/brutalist-golden-hour/

Dahlia is a virtual character; her voice is generated with AI.