When high-end designer Sareh Nouri took a trip to Italy this past summer, she found incredible inspiration for her new spring collection in many of the towns she visited. “I was really inspired by the travel, the food and the culture,” she says. “It was my first time going there, and I named my new dresses for most of the cities that I traveled to, especially in Sicily.”
Many of her fabrics, beads, laces and some of her silks are actually produced in Lake Como. “These are vendors I've worked with for many years, so there was already a nice connection with Italy for me,” says Sareh.
While Sareh Nouri gowns are known for their clean lines and bows, for this new collection, she changed things up by adding some elaborate laces and beading. At her recent trunk shows, she says people were surprised by all the new designs, and she received wonderful feedback.
“I feel that it elevated the brand,” she says. “For example, my Forza D’agro dress has a really beautiful cape and with all that lace, it's just so luscious. When you feel it, it has such a soft touch. And, that baby blue color is what I tend to use every season in some of my gowns because there's something blue right in the dress, plus it's one of my favorite colors.” Forza D’agro is also available in ivory.
She also introduced a couple of short bridal dresses. “One is like a high-low dress called Roma, since I also visited Rome,” says Sareh. “It has this beading on the top that is just so beautiful. Another, called Noto, is a really short puffy dress that has gorgeous organza work on it.”
Her Palermo dress, with its overskirt and a look that is in high demand, actually made the cover of Women's Wear Daily this past fall. “The magazine interviewed me, so I knew they were doing a piece on me for October, but actually making the cover was such a great surprise and honor; because of that, we went to market with a really strong confidence,” she says.
Sareh also recently launched a new evening collection as well, which she does once a year (bridal is twice a year). “There are 12 to 14 new gowns,” she says. “Again, I used some really beautiful intricate beading and some prints. There's a dress named Anita and it’s got a baby blue top and the bottom is a pleated print, and it's so flowy and whimsical. It has a very different feel from my previous designs. I’ve also added some colors that have been requested.”
Her new spring collection will be available in her Flagship Salon at the Short Hills Mall, and at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Kleinfeld and other select stores across the country.
Another reason Sareh wanted to visit Sicily had to do with one of her favorite movies - The Godfather. The town where many of the scenes were filmed, Savoca, was five miles from her hotel. She and her husband went to Bar Vitelli and the church where characters Michael Corleone and Apollonia were married. “It was just amazing to be in that town where they filmed many iconic scenes, and so I named my favorite dress from the past collection after that town. It’s a really beautiful high-neck lace dress.”
To see her spring and other collections, go to SarehNouri.com and follow on Instagram.