Christian Siriano sees your bathroom faucet differently than you do. Where most of us see chrome we need to Windex, the designer sees «thousands of color gradients in a single moment.» In a collaboration with GROHE—the global leader in luxury bathroom solutions known for its sleek German-engineered fixtures—Siriano has turned everyday faucets into runway-ready couture, and sat down to chat with ELLE DECOR about how he did it.
The collection captures water’s dual personality—solid yet transparent, structured yet flowing. Siriano bottled that moment when you’re standing under the perfect shower spray, except you’re wearing couture and not, you know, shampooing.
Each dress in the five-piece collection channels GROHE’s signature lines including Atrio, Allure, and Essence. ‘»I was really inspired by the fixtures themselves,» Siriano tells us. «They’re so sculptural and beautiful. I wanted to create something that felt like it had the same fluidity and movement as water, but also that structure and architectural quality that GROHE is known for.»
For the materials, Siriano chose organza, silk, jacquard, and an iridescent sequin that mimics «that twinkle in a mirror» to capture the reflective quality of GROHE’s fixtures. The collection predominantly features the brand’s iconic blue.
One standout piece—a dramatic ball gown with cascading layers of blue organza—seems to ripple and flow as if it were water itself, achieving something almost liquid in motion. This particular creation caught the eye of Whoopi Goldberg at Siriano’s runway show. «Baby, that’s my dress. I have to wear that to the Oscars,» she told Siriano, and true to her word, the gown made a splash on the red carpet shortly after.
«You have to make clothes feel light enough that you can wear them, but that still feel like they have space and sculpture,» Siriano noted during our chat. This balance can be found in the strategic off-shoulder cuts and high slits that created breathing room within the architectural silhouettes.
For Siriano, the parallels between fashion design and fixture design were surprisingly evident. «It’s all about silhouette and shape,» he says. «When I look at GROHE’s collections, I see the same attention to line and form that I consider when creating a dress. There’s this beautiful tension between function and art.»
The collection will be displayed at the new LIXIL Water Experience Center in NYC, where visitors can experience the collection for themselves. “Your home is where you create beautiful memories, right? And you want it to be beautiful, comfortable, elegant and sexy. It’s kind of the same thing with clothes,” he says.
Julia Cancilla is the engagement editor (and resident witch) at ELLE Decor, where she manages the brand’s social media presence and covers trends, lifestyle, and culture in the design world. Julia built her background at Inked magazine, where she grew their social media audiences by two million, conducted interviews with A-list celebrities, and penned feature articles focusing on pop culture, art and lifestyle. Over her five years of digital media experience, Julia has written about numerous topics, from fashion to astrology.
