The New Party Line

Festive season is in full swing, and from sonics to sex appeal, the dress code has had an upgrade. Divya Bala speaks to the designer staging fashion’s latest soiree

- Divya Bala

What does a dress code sound like?

Corporate wear might be stiff and swift, the steady, repetitive swipe of trouser legs walking with purpose. Or for a smart-casual catch-up, the whisper of cotton T-shirting and the soft, slinking pad of sneakers. Surely a beach date wouldn’t be complete without the smack of a flip-flop?

For the new season, the sound is a clatter of beads flung around on the dance floor, the domino-like micro claps of oversized gold sequins as they serpent over a body in motion or the deep swoosh of fringe in full swing.

“Whether you want to dance all night or take off your shoes and dance on the table, for party dressing it’s important to feel you can move and that your movement is free. You should feel like yourself — but that you will be remembered,” designer Julie de Libran says, encapsulating the festive mood of the fashion pack. From swathes of silk propping up a power shoulder to jewellery that moves beyond statement into imperative and dresses you can hear over chatter and the clink of ice cubes, ’tis the season to be bold — and be heard as much as seen.