In September, Christian Siriano debuted a Bombay Sapphire French 75-inspired haute couture gown at his 15th anniversary New York Fashion Week show. The dress, which was created with Bombay Sapphire-dyed fabrics to match the color profile of the cocktail, marked the beginning of Siriano’s partnership with the gin brand as part of their “Saw This, Made This Campaign” in which creatives craft their own unique works of art inspired by the spirit. Now, the designer is releasing a limited-edition capsule collection for the holidays fashioned after the elements of other signature gin cocktails.
Available today at Siriano’s website, the collection contains three pieces: the Bombay Sapphire Martini Clutch ($150), Bombay Sapphire & Tonic Blouse ($350) and the Bombay Sapphire Ultimate Collins Blazer ($595), each of which was designed with shades of either blue or gold in line with the color pallete of the brand. The proceeds from the sales of each item will be donated to GLAAD, a charity Siriano says he personally feels passionate about.
Courtesy of Bombay Sapphire/Sansho Scott
“The idea was that Bombay Sapphire cocktails are already interesting and fabulous,” Siriano tells The Hollywood Reporter in the Q&A below. “You already want that beautiful bottle in your glass cabinet or on your shelf because it’s so pretty, so how do we take something that’s already fabulous and beautiful and inspiring and mix it with holiday dressing as something that we can give back with as well.”
Take us back to the beginning of your partnership with Bombay Sapphire.
When I first started working with the Bombay team, we really wanted to do something around Fashion Week and this idea of celebrating, going out, getting dressed, and having parties. They have this beautiful campaign called “Saw This, Made This,” so I wanted to make something that was really inspired by the drinks. I picked the French 75 because it made the most sense with my collection and it’s probably the drink that I like the most. I wanted to have that feeling in the collection on the runway, something that was aspirational and beautiful. And now what we get to do is make a capsule collection of a few items that are inspired by more drinks and holiday entertaining. What’s so interesting now is that holiday entertaining is back and happening and drinks are half of the decor on the table. Everybody wants their drink to look fabulous and have a moment so that was the idea behind this collaboration.
Talk us through each of the three pieces in the collection.
The gold jacket is fabulous. That was inspired by the Bombay Collins drink and is obviously a little more festive and fun and playful and cool. We did a really beautiful, bright sapphire lining inside and the jacket is also very gender neutral. We wanted it to be a piece anybody can wear as an oversized, cool jacket. You could wear it over a mini dress or you could wear it with a pant. There are really no rules there.
Next, we made a kind of Bombay Gin & Tonic look. I designed a really clean white shirt dress that has pearlescent buttons and feels a little bit cool and casual, but still dressed up. And then my little Bombay Martini bag is probably the most fabulous thing in the collection because it’s clear and looks like a glass with handles like olives. It’s kind of a kick to the idea that when you get dressed up for the holidays it can be fun and it can be playful.
What did the creative process look like and what was the timeline for bringing these creations to life?
We began brainstorming and working on it right after Fashion Week. The idea was that Bombay Sapphire cocktails are already interesting and fabulous. You already want that beautiful bottle in your glass cabinet or on your shelf because it’s so pretty, so how do we take something that’s already fabulous and beautiful and inspiring and mix it with holiday dressing as something that we can give back with as well.
These pieces give people clothing options outside of the traditional red and green color palette. What, in your opinion, is the key to creating a great holiday look if you don’t want to wear those shades?
For me, it’s about pulling out all of the other tones— gold, champagne, iridescent, winter white. That’s why we did this white dress with the pearl buttons. Not everybody wants to wear an ugly Christmas sweater. Also, not everybody celebrates just Christmas. There are so many holidays and so many different people celebrate different things and that was very important for us to show here.
As a designer, how do you really feel about ugly Christmas sweater parties?
My lovely friend, Whoopi Goldberg, has an ugly Christmas sweater line and she’s had it forever. And she does throw a Christmas party that’s really fun actually, so I get it. I do get it, but it’s not my jam. I love the fun of it, though, so I do appreciate it.
You’re arguably the greatest success story of Project Runway. How would you say your style has evolved since that time?
Oh my god, it’s been such a long time. I was on that show when I was literally 20 years old. I’m 38 now, so I don’t think about it that way. What it’s really about is you have to grow as the consumer grows. I started paying attention less to what was going on trend-wise and more to what my customers wanted and what I felt like people in my life and the world wanted, and really celebrating the idea of beauty and body and shape and gender. That was very important to me, but still in beautiful couture evening wear. That was something that was really missing from the market. So a big focus of mine became making sure that anybody can get a fabulous, gorgeous couture-like piece no matter what.
That makes me think about Harvey Guillen on the Oscars carpet and how happy he was to be wearing the suit you created for him. Why do you think other designers don’t do what you do in terms of creating options for a wider range of body types?
I think it’s really important to celebrate great people. Harvey is an incredible actor, and I think a good role model for a lot of people who look like him. He wanted to wear something that was still masculine, but a little bit feminine and playful, and I think he felt like as a curvy man that can be a challenge. So we just wanted to make him feel great. And I think that’s really the designer’s goal. Like all we have to do as a job is make people feel good in their clothes. I always thought that that was funny that other people didn’t want to do that because that’s literally our only job.
With the strike lifting, has your schedule gotten crazy now that everyone is back to work?
It’s insane. I’m so happy we got to dress Fantasia for the beautiful The Color Purple screening in London. I’m such a fan of all of those women and that movie. I think it should take everything because I just love them and they’re such talented people. We literally sent that dress to Fantasia the night before and in the last three days right before Thanksgiving, we must’ve sent out a hundred pieces almost. It’s crazy. And it’s for everything because now everyone can promote their projects. So even for just a private screening or whatever they have going on, people want to get dressed up and promote their film and the projects that they worked really hard on.
With award season around the corner, what are hoping to see on the carpet in 2024?
What’s hard is there’s a lot going on in the world. And I think that that is a challenge. I’m interested in understated glamor and elegance. We don’t have to be too over the top; it’s about still being respectful and beautiful. I think things will be super, super elegant, with maybe a bit of classic Hollywood. At least that’s what I hope. Almost like 1920s Hollywood. Everybody just had a strike, why not go back to what it once was? I think that could be kind of beautiful.
In addition to your collection release, what are you looking forward to this holiday?
My gosh, honestly, literally just doing nothing. We have events in our store, and we have to promote our products, of course, but I want to just read some books and see what’s going on. I haven’t even gotten to read Britney Spears’ book yet, so that’s what I’ll be doing.