New York Fashion Week :: Day 4
Fall 08 Fashion Week is in full swing; more people have arrived and there’s lots of air kissing everywhere. It’s great to see people who you haven’t seen or heard from in months; there’s lots of laughter and squealing over good fashion gossip. There’s only one small problem; after a half an hour’s worth of catch up conversation, how does one politely ask for the other person’s name?
Aside from seeing old fashion buddies, the place is also crawling with what Rosemary Ponzo, a multi-talented costume designer and stylist, calls "lookey-loos." These aren’t people connected in the fashion industry at all. Rather they’re either gate crashers; quite clever at breaching security as they rapidly switch from ducking in to sauntering through the crowds, surreptitiously wipe the sweat off their brow, or they’re someone who is a friend of a friend of a friend lost in a world they don’t understand like Alice in the rabbit hole. You know it’s a case of "Uncle Mory’s friend Ted’s Aunt knew someone in production and they passed the invitation to my mother who gave it to me.
"Oooh, how many designers are in this show? Is Tyra here? I just lurve Tyra, um, well unless Paris is here!" This sentence is accompanied by hair twirling, darting eyes and the loud sound of cracking gum. The speaker usually has rather large hair, sometimes so large wonder occurs- could there be small woodland creatures living in that mass? Prom shoes and enough cheap jewelry to stock two Claire’s mall shops.
My agenda was a long one today; shows from 11 am to 9 pm. So, let’s get on with it, shall we?
Casey from Make Me a Super Model Strutts Down the R. Scott French Runway
R. Scott French is an American menswear designer who hasn’t shown during Fashion Week for a while. To make up for lost time, he showed 67 looks (most designers show around 45) and three different collections.
There was the Richard Harris Felt by R. Scott French, LTD by R. Scott French, and the R. Scott French Collection. To spice it up even more, models from Bravo’s Make Me a Supermodel and FUSE TV’s The Sauce walked the show. Jay, Casey, Ronnie, Frankie, Ben, and Perry got their first taste of the real world as we watched them stalk the runway.
Black and gray were the predominant colors in all the collections; Richard Harris Felt played to the creative business crowd with suits and separates that easily go from work to play. Olive green, dark taupe and even fuchsia accents piqued the eye and made your average menswear staple, say a jacket, look lively. A great look from this collection was a multicolored tweed tuxedo jacket that was paired with olive Donegal tweed tuxedo pants and a fuchsia and green ombre windowpane plaid shirt.
The Ltd by R. Scott French parade started off a bang; a model walked out in a deep black brocade blazer with heavy silver toggles that looked like ram’s horns, a red mesh t-shirt mixed with a black mesh t-shirt, and mottled pinstripe pants. There was a very Mod outfit in this group; a long black topcoat, cut slim with crazy plaid pants; and a dark shirt.
The R. Scott French line was modern and daring. Example: a gold sleeveless duffel coat, striped shirt and flannel, wide-waistband pants.
R. Scott French, unlike the other menswear designers I’ve seen this week, cuts his clothing in the American rather than the European style. The American style is looser, not as body conscious or formfitting as the European style of tailoring with its emphasis on waists and shoulders. As many American men love their couch, this can be considered a good thing; the ability to look stylish without becoming a gym rat in order to get into one’s clothes.
Jill Stuart’s Symphony in Blue
When Jill Stuart pulls it together, she glows. Unlike the Spring 08 show where there seemed to be two distinct collections sharing the runway, the fall show was seamless and gorgeously coherent. It all but glowed in deep rich blue, indigo and ink blue velvets. Whether dressed in a slim cut black leather jacket with a full black velvet skirt and exposed crinoline, or long slung crushed indigo velvet pants paired with a pale blue silk sleeveless blouse complete with epaulets and pussy cat bow or disco diva blue geometric dresses, each look surpassed the other.
And yet again we see hats on the runway; here large floppy hats and chic berets. Other notable accessories were gloves; for another season we’re seeing matinée and shorter length gloves. One dichomatic- and great- look on this runway was the pairing of glossy black leather boots with a very full skirted strapless cocktail frock.
Hollywould- Put Your Best Foot Forward
Creative Director and founder of Hollywould, Holly Dunlap offered an open house instead of a show during fashion week. It’s a very civilized way to look at fall clothing, shoes, and bags in a leisurely fashion. Oh, and you can pet the shoes.
Speaking of shoes, at the open house I learned that Hollywould high heels have a very lovely padded toe area; they may be high heels and sexy, but they are also comfortable! This is fabulous news; how many times have you worn a sexy shoe only to curse it in an hour because of the pain?
Hollywould ballet flats also have padding. Many of the shoes, flats and heels have a rubber bottom- no more flying along marble floors.
Getting back to the looks; the collection is inspired by the gentil fashions of the 50’s mixed with the edginess of 80’s punk, namely Deborah Harry’s (Blondie) gloss, glam and her unique ability to conjoin glamour and punk sensibilities.
It’s easy to send a message wearing Hollywould’s hot pink suede tasseled boot; a hot look on many runways for fall. Reptile skins like whip snake and crocodile abound in the fall shoe collection. There’s even exotic eel skin and stingray (faux). Colors bounce from neutrals to vivacious red to fuchsia. One group was Emma Peel meets the Talking Heads; black pony skin trimmed in hot pink leather. Choose from a buckled kitten heel, high heel, or bootie; think Emma Peel updated. Those same styles were done in elegant leopard print with brown trim.
Bags combined textures of big gold fittings, leather and nylon. They have a shopper that comes in an animal print, dull fuchsia and black patent that could easily be a good friend; it’s big and deep enough to carry anything and still look chic at the same time.
The ready-to-wear collection echoes the brilliance of the accessories with brilliant purple and pink dresses and separates that work for day or night. A fabulous sweater that could take you anywhere is gray ¾ sleeve with a high turtleneck and embroidered sequin front, that’s paired with a full skirt in fuchsia silk.
Feminine, fun, flirty, and practical all together in one collection!
Ports 1961- Less is Best
Creative Director Ti Cibani plays It’s a small world after all with each collection. Every season she picks a country where she derives inspiration from; one season it was Iceland, this season it’s Scotland. To be more exact, this season’s inspiration was Lassair; in Gaelic it means flame.
Uh huh.
The program describes the detail work- "bondage tailoring," as it was written- "to suggest subtle hints of the wicked and mischievous." Considering that Ports 1961 is aimed at Ladies Who Lunch and top execs, one wonders if Miranda Priestly would go for it.
There were a few workable (i.e. realistic) styles, including a mustard cowl back wool dress with a faux fur stole (note- Cibani was the only designer to use faux fur; support her!) and a split cowl-necked belted coat that was simple and elegant. Sadly, most of the looks were overpowered by excessive styling. A hat that looked like a psychotic bat in flight perched on a model’s head detracted from the simple sheath underneath. Mutant puff sleeves, the size of hormonally challenged pumpkins dwarfed an otherwise elegant dress, a diagonally shaped hem, bulging like the Elephant Man, wrecked an otherwise sophisticated evening dress.
Sometimes less is more; in this case, less would have been best.
The Blonds Walk On the Wild Side
Yowza! Ye Gods! Oh My! Whoever said fun left fashion was sleeping. The Blonds- Phillipe & David Blondefall show, Blond Legends woke up the ennui ridden crowd and dazzled the eye with fantastical fashions encrusted with Swarovski crystals, sequins, bold cuts and colors, and the occasional spiked shoulder.
No children, this is definitely not what to wear to the market on a lazy Saturday. It’s over the top, exuberant, and wild. The Blond’s vision for fall 08 is a fantastical one; embodied by disco fairies, punk goblins, fashion harpies and glossy celebutantes. Movies like Wonderwall and Legend provided further inspiration. All the shoes for the shoe were provided by Christain Louboutin. Celebrity fans include Dita Von Teese, Fergie, Beyonce and Christina Aguilera.
Stay tuned tomorrow for more fashion shows and reviews.
