Dekked Out

Few of the items that Bergdorf Goodman offers are intended to stay Hidden, and Marlies Dekker’s line of creative lingerie is no exception. By adding slinky sculptural decorative straps to her signature bras, Dekkers has designed genuinely avant-garde additions to the otherwise conventional field of racy undergarments. Instead being designed to stay hiding under clothes or behind doors, or occasionally flashed into the open, Dekker’s innovative undergarments add glimpses of elegant intrigue under other layers. Flaunted in full view by Rihanna, Dita von Teese, and Juliette Binoche, or worn so that the Dutch designer’s signature straps hover provocatively over the neck of an otherwise bland shirt, Dekker’s designs highlight women’s curves. Yet the sleek straps don’t blatantly pander to common bodacious babe, fetish, or  pin-up clichés. Instead, the lingerie appeals to compellingly self-contained and confident women. “I have been using these graphical lines from the very start of my work,” Dekker says. “I use them to accentuate the beautiful parts of the woman’s body, which is in my belief the perfect way to stimulate women’s self confidence.” Starting in May, Dekker will present her annual collections at Bergdorf Goodman, Las Veges’ Wynn Hotel, her own shops in Europe and Asia and her digital lookbook.