An $8,000 Napa Cab-Drenched Look Walked the Catwalk at New York Fashion Week

By WineBottleMag
September 22, 2024
CabDrenched Catwalk Fashion Napa Walked Week York
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What do you do if you’re a 50-plus-year-old wine brand who’s built a legacy on what’s become a stereotype—Napa Cabernet? Is that a look that is capable of being refreshed?

Maybe you splash $700 dollars worth of wine on a couture gown. Or maybe you partner with one of the fashion industry’s most notable emerging designers to create the splash.

That’s precisely what Silver Oak Cellars recently did at New York Fashion Week (NYFW).

Six months ago, when Christine Moll joined the legacy winery as the chief marketing officer, her first goal was to rejuvenate the half-century-old brand with something that would capture the attention of new and established consumers alike.

“I’m a consumer-centric marketer,” she says. “So, when the opportunity to join Silver Oak—an established, iconic winery—came about it just needed some brightness.”

Wine, as a category in general, “needs to shake things up a bit,” she adds. “We have to get out of our own way, bring our stories with a fresh new perspective.”

NYFW Etched Bottle Invitations – Image Courtesy of Silver Oak

An established super-luxury-tier wine, Silver Oak is often associated with special occasions and celebrations. “How do we become more inclusive?” asks Moll. “Just because you’re associated with luxury doesn’t have to mean being a stuffy brand.”

So Moll, along with her team and partners at BPCM consulting agency, honed in on the winery’s dedication to “American craftsmanship.”

Silver Oak only makes two bottlings; their focus is entirely on Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in American oak—casks that are crafted in the winery’s own cooperage.

“We basically looked at all the verticals and all the industries to identify the craftspeople who transcends that [American craftsmanship] category,” comments Victor de Vita, managing director of travel & luxury at BPCM. The agency works closely with clients in several luxury sectors—wine and spirits, travel and hospitality, beauty and wellness, celebrities and influencers and, of course, fashion.

“When we looked at fashion as a vertical, we hadn’t done much with that community,” says Moll. “Can we talk to new people and introduce them to the brand … while supporting emerging artists?”

Yes.

Going through a roster of emerging designers, Moll and de Vita both comment that it was that concept of “craft” they were looking for. They each received several proposals they couldn’t bother entertaining because they weren’t big enough or creative enough.

Then they came across Jackson Wiederhoeft, a graduate of Parsons School of Design, where he won “Women’s Wear Designer of the Year” in 2016, who started his eponymous label in 2019 and in 2022 was a Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund finalist.

Wine Dyed dress on a the runway at NYFW — Image Courtesy of INDIGITAL

“People have said to me that the one thing they’ve come to expect from a Wiederhoeft show is to be surprised,” Wiederhoeft tells Wine Enthusiast.

For his SS25 runway collection “MANIFESTO,” he worked with a variety of natural materials, from stones and pebbles to mother-of-pearl shells and raffia. “So, it felt natural to bring wine into the equation,” he says. “The idea of Silver Oak’s commitment to craftsmanship aligned perfectly with our design approach, so the motivation was clear—create something beautiful and unexpected.”

Unexpected, but challenging, too. “Getting the right color took some experimenting—wine isn’t your typical dye medium!” says Wiederhoeft.

Indeed, it took seven bottles of Silver Oak’s 2020 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and two separate dyeing sessions to get the mauve hue that took to the runway. “But once we nailed it, the depth and richness of the Cabernet really brought the dress to life,” he says.

The look, called “Lonely Poppy,” features a single poppy with exposed roots, embroidered glass beads, raffia and pebbles. “The Cabernet color felt perfect here in terms of incorporating something sultry into an already moody look,” Wiederhoef adds.

Ok, but what about the smell?

Napa Valley Cab aged in American oak is quite…aromatic, to say the least. A small spill on a t-shirt (this writer notes from experience) and the rest of the day smells like a musty cellar.

“The scent was there at first, but by the time it hit the runway, it was all about the visual impact,” comments Widerhoeft. He goes on to explain, “We washed the garment in cold water after the dyeing process was set (cold water closes up the fabric fibers and gets rid of the scent). It also took time: The aroma faded as the fabric dried and set. But it was a fun, sensory part of the process early on.”

Adds de Vita, “We even asked [the model] if she was sober—checking that alcohol did not penetrate through.” She was. It did not.

To the curious fashion consumers, the wine-soaked ensemble is, indeed, for sale: the corset for $5,300 and the skirt for $3,300. A one of a kind in Weiderhoeft’s 2025 fashion line, he welcomes the opportunity to work with wine as a medium again.

“It was a creative challenge, but I love a challenge,” he says. “This project was about merging two worlds that don’t often intersect: wine and fashion. What’s exciting is that both industries share this dedication to craftsmanship, and when you put them together, it opens up new avenues of creativity. It’s a reminder that storytelling can take on so many forms.”