NY Fashion Week puts the accent on sumptuous styles for fall
Fall is months away. But it’s not too soon to start punching up the dazzle and high dollar style celebrated last month at New York’s fall Fashion Week.
It was all about luxe: a crazy salad of rich colors and oh-wow embellishment. Floppy brimmed hats, tams and berets punched up the drama factor. So did flocks of feathers.
Zac Posen, who used stacked, straight-back chairs as a visual backdrop, had his mind on lace bibs, puffed skirts and short-sleeve little-girl dresses.
Calvin Klein highlighted a strong, disciplined woman with spare, double-faced wool jackets and coats that were squared off.
Most of the clothes in the week were complex. The fabrics were rich, sumptuous and serendipitously mixed like a French cassoulet.
Vera Wang’s artsy show, inspired by modern painter Kees Van Dongen, had an edgy street look. She shaped luxe fabrics into puffy peplums, column gowns, explosive rosettes and layered ruffles topped by snakelike jewels.
At Marc Jacobs, the aesthetic was toned down and sedate. Think English nanny.
It was memory time at Bill Blass, where Peter Som opted for such Blassisms as a black-and-white check jacket and a dress that burst into ruffles. And Monique Lhuillier, a red carpet regular, could not have added one more embroidered jewel without blinding her audience with the flash.
The sophistication of the styles brought back updos and — oh no — French twists.
The clothes will be in stores in late summer. You can see for yourselves.
DONNA KARAN
MARC VALVO
MARC JACOBS
VERA WANG
RALPH LAUREN
ZAC POSEN
