Christian Siriano invites New York Fashion Week guests into his surrealist dream

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NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Siriano barely had 48 hours to design his finale gown for his New York Fashion Week show. The iridescent green liquid fabric Siriano had ordered from Italy was stuck in customs for weeks before it finally arrived shortly before Thursday's runway show.

The designer of “Project Runway” fame may have been accustomed to executing his designs on a tight deadline but with months to design his other looks, he told The Associated Press, that the last-minute design brought a fresh wave of excitement ahead of his show.

“The best dresses come at the end because I’m really, really in it,” he said.

Unlike his previous shows, where Siriano decorated his venues in sync with this theme, this time around the designer pared down the atmospheric drama allowing his clothes to speak for themselves. For his latest collection, the designer experimented with texture and a variety of colors to create his surrealist dream.

“It was more of an idea of this fantasy dream, maybe like a Dali painting that can never be explained,” he said. “It really is this dreamlike world that hopefully everybody feels really beautiful in.”

Siriano’s fashionable crew of celebrity friends and loyal customers sat front row, including actors Leslie Jones, Uzo Aduba, Julia Fox, Natasha Lyonne, Whoopi Goldberg and rock singer Taylor Momsen.

The show opened with black and white structured looks before models emerged dipped in a sea of colors. They stopped along the runway to pose with their hair transformed into a surrealist swoop style, crisscrossed around their necks.

Siriano's collection reimagined red carpet silhouettes including eye-catching gowns with dramatic asymmetric necklines and exaggerated tulle sleeves or peplums. Even his black and white designs, featured shimmering fringe, alluring cut outs, feathers or delicate beading.

Siriano’s looks are not for the wallflower. The designer fashioned several revealing sheer looks.

In typical Siriano fashion, the runway was filled with models of all sizes and genders.

“We need to escape and be somewhere else … in a dream world,” he said. This will be a celebration of like, beauty, bodies, age and cultures and we need that.

Siriano’s standout looks of the night featured pops of color including a chartreuse lace cropped jacket and maxi skirt, and the bright green ombre bubble gown that arrived shortly before his show.

Siriano’s supermodel muse Coco Rocha closed the show in the ombre bubble gown. As Rocha theatrically posed down the runway, she locked eyes with guests. Celebrity guest Jones cheered on the model, yelling “drama” as she passed by.

“He makes you feel secure in his clothes,” Jones said of Siriano. “It doesn’t matter what size you are; he’s going to make you feel beautiful and that’s the essence of Christian.”

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AP entertainment producer John Carucci contributed to this report.