<\/p>\n
\n\tPARIS \u2014<\/strong> Luxury occasion wear label Starlit\u2019s latest bash at the H\u00f4tel de Crillon during Paris Fashion Week, hosted in partnership with WWD, ended on a high note.<\/p>\n \n\tIt was the brand\u2019s \u201cfirst very big event with a lot of traction,\u201d said Starlit\u2019s founder and creative director\u00a0Summer Starlit Prim, who hosted an appointment-only showroom at the Park Hyatt hotel during Paris Fashion Week.<\/p>\n \n\tThe setting for the party helped, she said with relief: The warm weather, the balcony looking out over Place de la Concorde, and the room filled with the kind of women she wanted in her clothes. Buzzy models Amelia Gray and Carmella Rose\u00a0dropped by and expressed great interest in the collection.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEverything went really just perfectly. And everyone was so kind and nice,\u201d Prim said during a sit-down interview with WWD, adding that her team had already seen a substantial uptick online. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing a lot more movement on social media, getting bombarded with comments and DMs.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor a young label still earning its place in a crowded occasionwear market, the Crillon event was as much a business catalyst as a celebration.<\/p>\n \n\tGrowing up in California, she originally studied\u00a0interior design\u00a0in San Francisco, but quickly realized she was on the wrong track. \u201cHalfway through, I was like, What am I doing? I mean, I do love interior design, but I think fashion was always something that I\u2019ve been so drawn to my entire life,\u201d said Prim.<\/p>\n \n\tFive seasons in, Starlit\u2019s foundations are now rooted in her long-standing interest in midcentury design and glamorous women in Hollywood. \u201cEverything is inspired by Old Hollywood glamor. So think Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Grace Kelly. I like to use them as my source of inspiration for each season,\u201d Prim said.<\/p>\n \n\tHer grandmother, a professional ballerina who lived in New York, is also a key source of inspiration. \u201cShe was like the most glamorous woman ever. Each collection that I do is very her. She was almost like a Marilyn Monroe type of woman,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tHer mother, meanwhile, was always obsessed with antiques, which led Prim into vintage, collecting clothes, and studying labels and eras. She cited\u00a0\u201960s Halston\u00a0as a current obsession, attracted to the designer\u2019s disco-era fluidity and the association with style icons like Cher. She also liked Pierre Cardin\u2019s structured and art-like pieces from that radical time. <\/p>\n \n\tHer fall 2026 range, meanwhile, was a study of Palm Beach in the \u201960s through the lens of\u00a0Slim Aarons\u2019 photography. \u201cPalm Beach was at the forefront of the 1960s jet set era. I really wanted to create something that looked like the pieces that they would have been wearing in that era,\u201d Prim explained.<\/p>\n \n\tOn the rails, that meant sharp-tailored suiting in dark tones, minidresses and gowns with internal corsets, and lighter, more fluid pieces for warmer climates.<\/p>\n \n\tThe brand\u2019s aesthetic has, until now, been defined by strict\u00a0black-and-white\u00a0dressing. The designer saw monochrome as the clearest way to secure a timeless identity. \u201cI wanted to keep it very effortless and wearable for women, where it\u2019s not eating them up, where they can feel they\u2019re the ones shining in the pieces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tBut as feedback came in, she was ready to go big with colors next season, having introduced several pieces in soft pink for fall 2026.<\/p>\n \n\tOne of Starlit\u2019s most visible signatures is its extensive use of\u00a0ostrich feathers. They appear on dresses, mini lengths, capelets and trims, and are often central to the garment\u2019s construction. Prim uses them to mimic a\u00a0drop waist, extend lines, and emphasize certain parts of the body. The full-feather \u201cdrop waist feather dress\u201d has become a cornerstone of the brand, she said.<\/p>\n \n\tFeathers are also a clear cost driver. \u201cThe feather is one of the most expensive parts of the garment. Obviously, the more feathers, the more expensive it\u2019ll be,\u201d she said, adding that a shorter feathered dress might retail between\u00a0$1,800 and $2,200 and a feather capelet is under $3,000. An evening number with heavy feathery treatment goes north of $5,000. All of the brand\u2019s garments are made in Italy by boutique-sized manufacturers.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Starlit customer, as Prim sees her, is not looking for safe special-occasion pieces. She is comfortable with attention and dresses to underline that.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s cool, it\u2019s sexy. Within this realm of being this Old Hollywood glamour brand, I don\u2019t want it to be a replica. I want it to have that edge. I want it to have that feeling that a girl can go out partying until 5 a.m. during fashion week and just be feeling her best self,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tBeyond the Paris moment, Starlit\u2019s growth plan is to give this customer more ways to engage with the brand\u00a0offline. Prim is leaning on\u00a0trunk shows\u00a0to drive conversion. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe did one trunk show in New York in December, and at the end of one night we sold 17 pieces,\u201d she said, adding that the brand is planning more\u00a0pop-ups, with\u00a0Palm Beach\u00a0and\u00a0New York\u00a0high on the list.<\/p>\n \n\tFor her, letting women touch the fabrics and step into the silhouettes is key. \u201cFrom the photographs to seeing the fabric in person, even trying on the pieces, it really gives a whole other vision to the brand once you\u2019re here in person to see it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tAnother major focus this year is\u00a0red carpet and celebrity dressing. Her team is actively pursuing opportunities to dress those who align with her vision.<\/p>\n \n\tBehind the scenes, Starlit is still a relatively\u00a0small operation, with about\u00a010 people. Prim remains hands-on, from choosing the fabrics to creating the mood board, while the in-house design team handles drawings and flats.<\/p>\n \n\tLooking ahead, Prim plans to move beyond purely eveningwear and develop a stronger\u00a0ready-to-wear\u00a0offer. There is also clear potential in\u00a0bridal\u00a0and\u00a0custom couture, especially as demand grows.<\/p>\n \n\tLike many emerging designers, she has a longer-term ambition: a\u00a0runway show\u00a0of her own. She is cautious about timing but doesn\u2019t want to wait indefinitely.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMaybe it\u2019s so far-fetched to be next year, but who knows?\u201d she said, while acknowledging that \u201chaving a Parisian moment would be really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS \u2014 Luxury occasion wear label Starlit\u2019s latest bash at the H\u00f4tel de Crillon during Paris Fashion Week, hosted in partnership with WWD, ended on a high note. It was the brand\u2019s \u201cfirst very big event with a lot of traction,\u201d said Starlit\u2019s founder and creative director\u00a0Summer Starlit Prim, who hosted an appointment-only showroom at the Park Hyatt hotel during Paris Fashion Week. The setting for the party helped, she said with relief: The warm weather, the balcony looking out over Place de la Concorde, and the room filled with the kind of women she wanted in her clothes. Buzzy models Amelia Gray and Carmella Rose\u00a0dropped by and expressed great interest in the collection. \u201cEverything went really just perfectly. And everyone was so kind and nice,\u201d Prim said during a sit-down interview with WWD, adding that her team had already seen a substantial uptick online. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing a lot more movement on social media, getting bombarded with comments and DMs.\u201d For a young label still earning its place in a crowded occasionwear market, the Crillon event was as much a business catalyst as a celebration. Growing up in California, she originally studied\u00a0interior design\u00a0in San Francisco, but quickly realized she was on the wrong track. \u201cHalfway through, I was like, What am I doing? I mean, I do love interior design, but I think fashion was always something that I\u2019ve been so drawn to my entire life,\u201d said Prim. Five seasons in, Starlit\u2019s foundations are now rooted in her long-standing interest in midcentury design and glamorous women in Hollywood. \u201cEverything is inspired by Old Hollywood glamor. So think Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Grace Kelly. I like to use them as my source of inspiration for each season,\u201d Prim said. Her grandmother, a professional ballerina who lived in New York, is also a key source of inspiration. \u201cShe was like the most glamorous woman ever. Each collection that I do is very her. She was almost like a Marilyn Monroe type of woman,\u201d she said. H…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}