Easy color signals sunny NY Fashion Week theme

Tag : Chiffon Fabric

He also offered waistcoats, back-wrap skirts with ruffles, menswearsuit pieces, gaucho pants, draped striped gowns and a stunningblack satin cocktail dress with a braided belt.
CAROLINA HERRERA
At Carolina Herrera, the air and the runway were filled withfeelings of civility, sophistication and luxury.
The brand favored by A-lister Renee Zellweger, who was in theaudience, consistently plays the chic, well-heeled woman who haslittle interest in trends. Yet the lovely dresses with organzaoverlays or delicate ruffles played into the casual elegance thathas been a strong theme at Fashion Week.
The palette of hibiscus pink, marigold yellow, teal blue andpersimmon mixed with graphic black and white also falls in linewith what's been popular with other designers.
"In a season that could turn out tricky, her feminine sensibilitylooked fresh and beautiful," observed InStyle fashion directorCindy Weber Cleary.
PROENZA SCHOULER
What looks silly on one fashion runway can be stunning on another,as Proenza Schouler proved. The harem pants and jumpsuits thatlooked gimmicky at other shows were fantastic here.
These were definitely black-tie outfits, practically works of artmimicking the Deco era. They were covered in sequins - one wasblack and white, another silver and another all black withstrategically placed cutaways - that created an optical illusion ofmovement if the light hit them right.
Maybe designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, largelyconsidered the most influential of the young designers, were aimingfor a statement about the old industrial era meeting thetechnology-fueled future: Other looks had wide, stiff shouldersthat one would expect on the costumes of a sci-fi movie, pairedwith interesting shoes with heels that looked like they were madeof spare machinery parts.
ISAAC MIZRAHI
Inspiration comes from all sorts of places - Isaac Mizrahi took hisfrom the insect world. The collection named "Swarm" had dresses inthe spirit of dragonflies, beetles, even cockroaches.
Mizrahi had his tongue in cheek working on these outfits, but healso offered some serious fashion, including a draped gown coveredin orange pailettes - the glitterpillar - and the white-on-whilejacquard leopard-moth sheath dress. The white beetlebride gown,with a wrap-style top and full white ballskirt, would look stunningat a garden wedding.
But then there were the shapeless, unfortunate dresses named pupas.
PETER SOM
Peter Som's spring runway was a closet full of clothes for theyoung and beautiful set. The collection was an even mix of tropicalcolors and neutral earth tones, resortwear and cocktail dresses.
Som mixed textures - an organza shirt with tweed skirt, and a shinylinen taffeta dress - which gave the overall impression of chicclothes without stuffiness. Corset-style tops with fuller, flirtybottoms also provided some playfulness.
In an interview, Som described the look as his signature of"quirkily romantic dressing and relaxed elegance" - and moving itto the desert. Many of the best looks, however, must have come fromSom's oasis: beautiful hues of ocean blue, including lagoon, aquaand azure.
MISS SIXTY
Miss Sixty's collection hit on many of the major trends to emergeso far at New York Fashion Week: rompers, harem pants, one-shouldertops, miniskirts and loose, easy outfits.
The line called New Urban Superheroes debuted Sunday night in frontof a crowd that included actress Blake Lively, as well as stylists,editors and retailers.
Designer Wichy Hassan, in an interview, said he was experimentingwith some more grown-up looks: "In the collection of Miss Sixty,there's always hippie styles but for next season it's a little moreelegant, a little more chic."
In other words: This was a Miss Sixty inspired by the more worldlyand luxe 1970s instead of the bohemian 60s.
THAKOON
The looks on the Thakoon runway had a playful - but sophisticated -naughtiness to them, with prints like lipstick kisses and falseeyelashes and chiffon gowns with pleated bodices.
Skin colors such as nude, buff and beige were punctuated withtextured black, deep red and bougainvillea. The lipstick kisseswere subtle, like a sheer nude kisses trench coat with a tullefringe. And rose prints were featured on several of the dresses,such as a rose print seamed dress with dark ribbon trim.
Designer Thakoon Panichgul designed the printed dress that MichelleObama wore the night her husband accepted the nomination at theDemocratic National Convention. "Seeing it was magical," he said.
TRACY REESE
Tracy Reese's garden blossomed early. The best outfits of herspring collection were done in florals, especially a paleoleander-rose print used for a one-shoulder slip dress covered withappliqued flowers that served as the runway finale.
Other outstanding looks presented Sunday to an audience thatincluded Sanaa Lathan and Brandy were a chrysanthemum lantern skirtwith a soft drape matched with a nectarine-colored knit T-shirtwith ruffled cap sleeves and strapless garden-print top with adouble peplum that was worn with green eyelet trousers.
Furthering the good girl-bad girl theme that has been popular inthe early going of Fashion Week, Reese offered an idealleather-and-lace ensemble: a taupe-colored buttery leather jacketwith appliques and a lace tiered skirt.
LELA ROSE
Lela Rose borrowed draping techniques from the headdresses of theAfrican Mende tribe for dresses that blurred the line between funkyglobal styles and cocktail attire for uptown girls.
One of the most interesting things to emerge from her runway showSunday at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week was a print Rose called "heatmap" and looked like a satellite photo on Google Maps. It was anattractive navy and red print but also seemed like a socialcommentary about the world getting smaller.
---
Associated Press writer Megan K. Scott contributed to this report.