khaleej times Friday, September 17, 2010
fashion
16
Taking a fashionable e l P P a g i b e h T f o T U o biTe The bright lights are in place, the big city’s fashion cognoscenti are all a-twitter, a hush washes over the audience because folks, it’s New York
ToMMY hilfigeR
Fashion Week — and that means, it’s show time Donna kaRan
Stephanie Rivers
MaRC JaCobs
It was the liberated, louche 70s, YSL and the dancing queen of that era that inspired Jacobs this time around for SS 2011. Long, loose dresses, wide-brimmed hats, crimped hair and the Orient’s flora all made the rounds at the armoury on Lexington Avenue. The show was also about colour, bold, saturated hues, a welcome departure from his more sombre, sophisticated hues at Louis Vuitton for FW 2010. Rich oranges, fire engine reds; you could see from the bell sleeves, bell-inspired pant bottoms, obi-inspired sashes, silks and satins that Marc also had a little Rive Gauche/ YSL on his mind as well. If the wide-brimmed hats and hair remind you of something, you are correct, they seemed to be channelled directly from Deniro’s and Jodi Foster. Another trend from the show we are sure to see again is the heavy eye make-up, again cum Guy Bourdin.
Donna kaRan
Karan’s love of nature and its elements is a noted fact, one that never surprises her audience when mentioned in her show notes. What is surprising though, is her ability to continually channel and create a new point of view for her this love, season after season. Nature’s raw romance of elements best described the sand runway and the rock-inspired backdrop made from fabric. The crinkled cropped safari jackets, shimmering silk skirting and wide-legged pants gave a sense of moving sand and the continual shifting landscape of a beach. Bias-cut slip dresses, plunging necklines, shirtdresses and crinkled stretch trenches made for smart and sexy day and evening wear. Bucking her normal urban colour landscape of blacks, whites, slate and asphalt in favour of bone, sand, saffron, honey, toffee and tan, proved that Ms Karan had moved onward but still had a few tricks and rough edges (notably the unfinished hems of dresses/gowns) to explore.
Diane Von fURsTenbeRg
MaRC JaCobs
The DVF show had a lot of buzz surrounding it, with everyone wondering how the introduction of a new design wingman, in the form of Frenchman Yvan Mispelaere, would affect the collection. Would it mean more restraint? Would there be more prints or less? Would we see touches of Gucci or Chloe in the collection? Well, the fears were quelled and the collection was injected with just the right amount of pattern, colour and panache that it needed. Prints indeed figured more greatly in this collection, as did colour, in the form of exaggerated geometric puzzle patterns and bolder colour combinations, along with draping and strong tailoring. Colour was sublime in the form of navy pantsuits paired with lemon yellow shirting; lemons and emeralds; oxblood reds with sapphire blues; jade with black and white; tan with black and light heather topped with a pink long slung belt; dark toffee with black and white and tan; deep tan, wheat and white; and lime with dark tan set off with a jade low slung rope-tie belt. Diane and Yvan also showed us lots of leg (trend alert) and great ways to showcase them in high-waisted shorts with cropped jackets, knee-length skirts with long flyaway jackets and thigh-high slits aplenty. The collection was full of options that every polished city girl wants: the wrap dresses; the combo long coats, long shirts and skirt combos; the tulip skirt worn with safari-like blouses; plunging neckline jewel tone blouses with rolled sleeves, worn with effortless élan when paired with cropped trousers; patterned jumpsuits and streamlined day bags.
PRabal gURUng
Intelligently sexy sums up Prabal’s fourth outing at NY Fashion Week. Colour blocking, body con dresses, sleek sheaths, edgy footwear and scuba material all made a bold outing and exquisite showing during his line up. The colour blocking alone, in hues of marigold, Mediterranean blue and red made the audience sit up and take notice, that and the fitted silhouette that the hues came in the form of. Injections of city classic colours of black, white, cream and wheat were also present, and how could they not be: resplendent in belted sheath dresses with back slits,
below-the-knee skirts topped with plunging neckline belted jackets, as well as the monotonal 3/4 sleeve striped sweaters with subtle ribbon-stripe tiered skirts. Not all of the looks were winners out of the starting gate. The strapless feathered 3/4 length dresses, the patchwork-inspired skirts of feathers and silk were gimmicky and did not pair well with the edgier footwear. The sequined dresses were too long and would have been sure winners had they been shortened and worn with uber strappy high heels. The footwear collaboration with Nicholas Kirkwood, however, was beautiful and sure to be strong sellers for Gurung.
aleXanDeR Wang
Out of the darkness, in this case club culture, and into the light, in the form of lighter, brighter fare was news at Wang’s SS 2011 show. Construction, rather deconstruction, was the point of view this season, as it worked its hand at Wang’s show with overalls, overall straps, loose smock-inspired dresses, widelegged carpenter pants, carpenter jackets, slouchy trousers with elastic waistbands, splashes of silver that reminded one of building insulation and duct tape. The dress lengths were also new for Wang, as they were of mid-length or longer this season, a retreat from his usual leg baring minis that his devoted Wangettes have come to love. The loose fitting airy tops, dresses and car coats of lightweight cotton were beautiful and appropriate for spring, surely an anecdote to the oppressive heat of the Big Apple this past summer season. The loose cropped and elongated knits, paired with everything from floor grazing skirts to cropped pants and long shorts, were essential items to transition into spring from cooler temps of winter. The high-heeled construction-inspired booties, along with the rope ankle-tie sandals were covetable accessories from the first step on the runway.
bCbg MaX aZRia
Arctic whites and effortless chic was the leitmotiv for BCBG SS 2011. Peek-a-boo tulle, tone-on-tone embroidery, along with tiered layers and one-shoulder creations made for easy, wearable pieces that globally everyone should love. Azria’s colour palette was subdued with subtle injections of colour in the form of ash, hazelnut, taupe and cream. Dress lengths were mixed, with some worn short with breezy top layers of chiffon and tulle, some having a zig-zag pattern created by diagonal ruffled tiers, and others long to the floor with louche ease. The movement of the silk and paper-thin tulle overlays lent an intellectual sexiness to the mix, along with the construction of the dresses harkening back to the days of Calvin Klein at the design helm of the House of Klein. The spaghetti strap print dresses in dark grey/black and white had a boudoir feel without being too literal, and the minidresses in marigold/white and dark wheat/tan were perfect for a night out at Bagatelle or Da Silvano.
bCbg MaX aZRia
ToMMY hilfigeR
The number 25 was a good luck charm for many American designers this year, notably Donna Karan and Tommy Hilfiger alike. Tommy, like Donna, did not use their quarter century mark as an excuse to revisit and reinterpret what made his brand a household name; he embraced his design aesthetic, bringing it continually forward into modern times. Tommy paid homage to his Connecticut roots and moniker of style: preppy. There were the requisite window pane plaids, rugby sweaters, shrunken jackets, long tennis-inspired court dresses, country club lawn dresses, stacked heeled duckie boots (trend alert), knit sleeveless shells and tweeds. Designer Peter Som who collaborated his uptown eccentric élan atop of Hilfiger’s classics last season was back again, and it was the touch in bucketfuls that the collection needed. Som’s hand was evident in the pleated mini skirts worn with shrunken preppy jackets and bra-inspired corset tops, which were preppy with a pretty twist, as were the patterned walking shorts with sleeveless coloured blazers; the khaki backless halter dresses were killer and spot on, along with the top siders gone fashionable with stacked heels. What better 25 anniversary present for Hilfiger than a smidgen of street cred, which came in the form of, or so it was whispered, of two well-known fashion journalists sporting Hilfiger’s new high heel duckie boot.
MaRC JaCobs