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New York Fashion Week - Rebecca Minkoff - Style360

When you think of Rebecca Minkoff, you think of bags.Totes, hobos, satchels and the like in luscious colors,

soft supple fabrics, and shapes that call to your soul. You see them, and have the urge to buy one immediately. The above bag, The Nikki Hobo is available at Bloomies now.

So, when I had gotten the invite for the Rebecca Minkoff presentation on September 14, 2009 as part of the Style360 New York Fashion Week events, I knew I had to see those amazing works of art; I just didn't know that I'd also see a fashion show.

Her spring bags come in all sizes; from tiny clutches to huge oversized hobos. Lots of the bags had dangling strings attached to them. I hesitate to say  fringe, because one or two strings a fringe doesn't make.

bags ranged in color from butter yellow, bold orange, blue, to deep black. Lots of studded and zip details too.

As for the clothing; according to the program notes, Minkoff was inspired by Gianni Versace, early 90's Tim Burton and photographer Peter Lindbergh. How did it translate on the runway? Lots of black and white, animal prints and a style that says, "don't touch that cookie." some of the pieces were wearable, some looked dated. It's hard to channel a designing icon like Versace, and not have some of the clothing look like it should be hanging in Bloomie's Designer's Salon circa 1991.

Do these examples make your heart flutter? Would you wear them this spring?

New York Fashion Week - Malan Breton - Style360

Malan Breton is an innovative designer; whose accomplishments overshadow his appearance on Project Runway. For bad, or for good, mention his name or the show, and they always get entwined.

That wasn't why his show  was SRO; it was because his eye for detail, the delicacy of his design and his sense of romance has created a legion of loyal customers and fans.

It didn't hurt that Malan was debuting his menswear line either. Male Models. Yum.

So, on a shiny Monday morning, September 14, Style360 at the Metropolitan Pavilion hosted his show.

Regarding his menswear line; the hardest items to construct are pants and blazers. Malan's were perfectly constructed. The shoulders sat where they should, waists were nipped appropriately, and pants were long and lean. Of course, it was also delightful when he sent down male models wearing shirts, vest, undies and socks. One of them did a jete or two down the runway.

As for his women's wear; think Mad Men meets Audrey Hepburn's Sabrina ala Hubert de Givenchy meets sleek modern sexiness.

Body conscious day and evening looks in a palette that ranged from icy lavender to purple; lace, silks and satins foretold an elegant spring.

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week -Alexander Berardi- Spring 2010

Viewing the craftsmanship, design sensibility and attention to details in his collection, it's rather impossible to believe that Alexander Berardi is only 23 years old.

His collection has an uptown/downtown vibe; fresh, chic and young.

White wasn't necessarily white; there were shadow stripes, pique, and other visual interests tucked into the fabrication.

His palette was white, black and navy. Thinking nautical look? Yes, but it wasn't over done. A bit of navy piping on white pants, or white piping on a navy print blouse-the giveaways were the nautical hats.

Berardi steered clear of stereotypical design, on this his third collection. For example, his polka-dotted dress was anything but sweet and simple. Because of the dress' clean lines and details, it came across as sophisticated and quite sharp.

This wasn't an entirely monotonal collection, silver, gold, orange and a floral print in purple, cream and orange used in a dress and separates added depth to his design.

Some might view it ( the collection) as something fit for Gossip Girl, as that show seems burned into the collective consciousness. It's not built on a gimmick; this collection reinterprets classic in a very modern and sleek manner.

Are you curious to see the rest of the collection? Well, if you'd like to view the models final walk, please click!

New York Fashion Week - 6th Annual Style360 - Liquid Metal Collection

Each New York Fashion Week, Hachette Filipacchi Media and A-List Communications sponsor a four day event, the Style360.  Established and emerging designers hold runway shows at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.

Sunday, September 12, 2009, the first show of the day was the Liquid Metal by Sergio Gutierrez Spring 2010 fashion show. For the most part, Gutierrez designs accessories. How does an accessory walk down a runway? would a bag or a belt get little feet and dance down the runway? That would be cute and strange at the same time.

Gutierrez did one better by having models stalk down the runway wearing liquid leather leggings and simple tops to showcase his wares.

Leather cuffs with intricate metal mesh details, long chain necklaces, mesh-linked tops,jeans and jackets with studded accents, leather bags with metal accents, metal mesh bags, mesh-linked bras, even two-piece mesh and linked metal dresses and skirts walked the runway.

The show was very rock and roll. The handbags were large, roomy and had delicate silver accents on the side.

an the belts! Wide belts, narrow belts, complete mesh-linked belts, belts with just a touch of metal, belts that screamed "heavy metal;" it really was belt heaven.

One of the hot trends for fall is the studded rock n' roller look. Well, it appears that that style will be with us for spring 2010. And if so, Sergio Gutierrez has that trend locked down. If you've ever dreamed of being a sexy rocker chick, definitely check out his collection online at Liquid Collection by Sergio Gutierrez. I bet you'll be tempted by his wares.

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week -Maria Grachvogel- Spring 2010

British designer Maria Grachvogel brought a bit of the UK to her show on Sunday, September 12, 2009 at the Altman Building. Attendees were treated to tea, complete with crustless sandwiches, scones and clotted cream.

The presentation was set up like an old fashioned department store tea room fashion show. Attendees were seated at round tables bedecked with a lt candle and a floral bouquet. A truly civilized way to watch clothing parade down the runway. And parade it did; the show ran continuously from 2 pm - 4 pm.  The way it was run, it really afforded the viewer to study the collection as you could see a dress twice.

Grachvogel is well known in the UK; not only for her line of day and evening wear, but also for her line of bespoke bridal couture. Angelina Jolie. Yasmin Le Bon and Marie Helvin are just a few of the celebrities who wear her clothing.

And oh the clothing! Sinuous, sensual in idea and made with simple clean lines that enhance the wearer. Think Marlene Dietrich. Zac Posen, pre-war movies from the 40's and smoldering sexuality, and you've hit the nail on the head for this collection. The basic colors were black , taupe,  with occasional blasts of white and red. Grachvogel had two floral dresses;  one in red and one in yellow. A huge Georgia O'Keefe type flower adorned the front and back of the dress. There were abstract print tops,small hounds-tooth print taffeta dress, and a gown that had a feathery abstract print down the front hand-painted by Maria.

 

If you'd like to be center-stage in the movie of your life, oh this is the wardrobe for your starring role.

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week -Chado Ralph Rucci- Spring 2010

What can you say about a master designer? America's only couturier? That at his shows, not a word his heard, not even a whisper. So entranced is the audience by his complex, detailed and almost magical creations, that the only thing heard is the music playing and the sound of fabric swishing down a catwalk.

 

Chado Ralph Rucci showed his spring 2010 collection on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at Bryant Park.

The inspirations for this collection was  a combination of an hommage to the the late Pina Bausch's personal style and her iconographic choreograph,  Sculptor Lynn Chadwick's work, and Lady Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji. The clothing was light, ethereal and practically floated down the runway.

Rucci's creations are delicate works of art. Each season he explores new ways to turn dreams into reality. Many of his items have detailed embroidery. One season he showed an alligator coat with trapunto stitching. Embroidered items this season he used embroidery techniques that borrowed their imagery from the basic ladder. The embroidery as it climbed from the hem into the body of the garment became more and more refined as they inched higher.

For surface decoration, Rucci shredded silk tulle and chiffon, then sculpted them in layers, creating conceptualized flowers and yes, even wisps of smoke. Many of his after five dresses had sheer inserts, and a few of his gowns had cut outs on their sides.  Think sensual elegance, not 80's fly-girl. Colors ranged from stark white, brilliant black to acid yellow and red.

standout looks included a sleek simply tailored black mohair pantsuit , an acid yellow silk gros de longres raincoat (complete with hood) and a matching A-line skirt, a terra cotta double faced wool crepe jacket with horizontal bands of taupe paired with a taupe tulle horsehair skirt, and a taupe empire waisted u-necked, thin-strapped dress with feathers that undulated like sea anemones. Honestly, the list of gorgeous things could go on and on and on....His items are always heart-stoppingly beautiful.

-Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week- AAU- Academy of Art University -Spring/Summer 2010 Show

Seven recent MFA graduates of the Academy of Art University -Marina Nikolaeva Popska, Kara Sennett, Amanda Cleary, Richelle Valenzuela, Brittney Major, Jie Pan, and Sawanya Jomthepmala showed  their capsule collections Saturday, September 12, 2009 at the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week to a standing room only crowd.

Each collection had a different point of view of what suits the modern woman and her life.

Marina's was all about pastel playful pastel jacquard knit dresses with undulating ruffles. Kara Sennett's color blocked separates were body conscious and a petite hommage to Courreges, and yes wearable, very wearable. Her inspiration? Philanthropist Betty Friedman in David Hockney's 1966 painting Beverly Hills Housewife. Amanda Cleary looked to packaging as her inspiration and used box tab and cutout details in her collection. Silver, aqua, gray and black were colors. The dresses swished and flowed as the models walked down the runway. Richelle Valenzuela's collection was inspired by the structure of gem cutting diagrams, and the facets of the gem. Structural, architectural, yet soft, feminine, and visually surprising. It drew "oohs" from the crowd. Brittney Major used "unconvetional preppy" as inspiration for her collection. Plaid dresses and separates in bright taffetas merrily went down the runway. The collection was playful and fun. Jie Pan paired contrasting shapes, and pired fabrics like horesair wirh siklk chiffon and natural linen with organza  for her collection. Her inspiration was the abstract paintings of Anna Fidler. The designs were fluid and visuallly arresting. Sawanya Jomthepmala ended the show with brilliant neon colors-pink, yellow and green-prints, exquisitely done pants and separates.

Would you like to view the show in its entirety? Just click and sit back and watch the show from a front row seat. It as of you're there in the main tent.

Have you been to a fashion show? Do you have a favorite designer? Leave a comment!

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - Twinkle by Wenlan- Spring 2010

Knitwear goddess Wenlan Chia's line has a long list of celebrity clients; Lauren Conrad and Vanessa Hudgens are just two in her Rolodex.

For spring/summer 2010 she played with silk, not knit; viewing her flowy, well draped and cut line, it sure looked like she had a lot of fun. Bright pops of red, soft pink, pale aqua, touches of blue, and hints of green worked well again the basic black and white palette. It was nice to see her use bold graphic prints and a  clever use of buttons to highlight outfits.

Here and there you'd see classic Twinkle; slouchy over sized tops, and cardis. However, the collection was, for her, surprisingly body-conscious with cigarette pants, nipped in waists and short skirts.

Designers always evolve. They have to or they can't survive. Wenlan's move to a sexier more sophisticated look is a very welcome one.

 

*photos courtesy of Dan Lecca/Laforce-Stevens

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - Boudoir D' Huitres- Spring 2010

 Boudoir D'huitres spring/summer 2010 collection debuted September 10, 2009 at the Hosfelt Gallery. Designer Mimi Plange was inspired by the sea. Her collection, "Medusa is Blooming, "is an intellectual journey into the ocean depths. The inspiration is the 'medusa' or jellyfish of the sea that are rapidly blooming with life and color, and the haunting melodic 'Oceanic' by Bjork."
Her color story; bright pinks, sunshine yellow, brilliant blue, black and ocean sand tell the story of the undulating waves and wild colors of the ocean and its inhabitants.
Plange celebrates the feminine with designs that celebrate a woman's curves and her delight in all that it is to be a woman.

Ruffles and feathered accents echo the delicate movements of the jellyfish. This is a joyous collection that celebrates the sun and life. In dark financial times, we all need a shot of joy.

 

Want to see the entire collection?

Click here!

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - SPURR Spring 2010

Simon Spurr artfully combines color, excellent tailoring, and comfort (yes! Comfort in fashion! Who Knew) to create a wearable spring/summer menswear collection.

21 models lined up against a wall in showing off looks that ranged from tuxedo to casual wear. SPURR is known for his excellent tailoring, love of color and the understanding that while men want to look good, they don't want what they wear to overpower their personalities.

 

 

Would you like to see the entire presentation? Just click!