Omnia Luo Preview

Omnia Luo, the line designed by Chinese phenom Zheng Luo, is showing for the first time in the tents today at 5 p.m. I got to preview the collection before it goes up on the runway and truth be told, I was sort of blown away.

She is obsessed with using hand details that are practically extinct in fashion these days, even among the more major designer brands. Her ombre pieces are not dipped, but hand painted and dyed and the embroidery is not applied by machine, but actually sewn by an embroiderer.

Think elegant, chic yet edgy clothes you can dress up or dress down. And think silk. Lots and lots of silk, in some cases, 80 layers of it just to make one gown.

It's hard to do her collection justice by words, but maybe the five CFDA awards she has won, including best women's wear designer two years in a row, could paint a better picture of how talented she is. Omnia Luo plans to find its way to Madison Avenue by 2009. My prediction: she is going to give her neighbors up there a serious run for their money.