Rodarte's design team Kate and Laura Mulleavy aren't afraid to mismatch. They're famous for their mixtures of textures and prints—and their Spring show on Tuesday afternoon was no exception. They brought forward a collection inspired by the Redwood forests of Northern California. The collection seemed to be made from the fabrics of an entire house—from the delicate blue print of a kitchen tablecloth, to engraved leather from the sofa in the study to the thick mauve knits of Grandma's old sweaters.
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The collection was incredibly sexy. Swaths draped across dresses revealed strips of bare skin, and voluminous hips accentuated curves. Skirts and tops were cut to expose square sections of the models' stomachs. Although it was certainly hard to top the glowing shoes from last season, Rodarte's collaboration with shoe designer Nicolas Kirkwood this season came pretty darn close. The fabric on each pair of towering stacked-wood heels matched perfectly with each dress: blue embroidery on one pair; gold lame on the next.
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The collection evoked the natural fields and forests of the Mulleavy's home state. Sixties flower-child music blared as models circumambulated illuminated packing crates assembled around a gallery in Chelsea, and, as Eric Wilson noted some fabrics looked "as if they were made from shifting tectonic plates."
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For the finale, all the models stood scattered around packing crates, and the lights flashed on and off like a strobe, while techno-hippie music blared. The audience—including Serena Williams, Elijah Wood, and Kanye West—went wild. After the Mulleavy sisters took their final bow and the lights went up, Suzy Menkes was out of her seat and sprinting across the set to get to them backstage. Tweeted Rachel Zoe after the show: "fashion overload between Marc Jacobs 70s sexy glamour last night and Rodarte today...art on runway...speechless...DIE.' Concluded Eric Wilson: "The Rodarte spring collection was undoubtedly a hit of New York Fashion Week."
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Before the show, Kanye West—who wore a black tuxedo and a black t-shirt with white sneakers, plus diamond grills in place of his bottom row of teeth—was mobbed by photographers and fans. Desiree Rogers—who famously hired West to perform at her daughter's Sweet 16 party—greeted the rapper with a warm hug. We caught West for a moment between the flashbulbs: "I've never been to any of Rodarte's shows before so I don't know what to expect!" he said. "But I'm so inspired by their fabrics and textures. I'm always online, like, 'I like that sweater.' Their clothes are art."
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After dazzling editors with his signature collection Monday night, the designer followed up Tuesday with a breezy, bright Marc by Marc Jacobs show full of vintage-looking pieces for men and women. The collection was pure sunshine, with beach-ball striped skirts and paper-bag waisted shorts cinched tight around the models, whose hair was teased up into wild frizz, as if they'd just hopped out of their boyfriends' convertibles after drag-racing to the shore.
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A few obligatory hot pants, ubiquitous on runways this fall, made it into the Marc by Marc Jacobs mix, as did an array of covetable accessories, including domed summer hats and low-slung shoulder bags. These dainty pieces rounded out a collection of casually cool clothes that sprinkled menswear touches—belted jackets, wide slacks—over the usual array of colorful, feminine looks. Two models, teenagers themselves, one clutching a runway-fresh bag, steered clear of the post-show press fray and exited a side door of the Armory, giggling down Park Ave South. Did they like the clothes? "Oh, my god, yes!"
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Narciso Rodriguez has never been one to go over the top and his Tuesday show was no exception. There were beautifully simple black suits by the truckload (slightly looser ones than seasons past), evening gowns sprinkled with gold dust (but just a touch, the sort you'd expect with a minimalist designer like Rodriguez), and chiffon tops with rose petals sewn into them.
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Cathy Horyn of the New York Times was one of the collection's many admirers. Rodriguez's restrained minimalism has won fans across the fashion world, especially as a cleaner, sleeker look came back in force this year with Phoebe Philo's lauded collection for Celine. As Horyn put it, "Sometimes it's harder to whisper than to yell."
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Vera Wang, whose show on Tuesday marked her 20th anniversary as a designer, had a message: Watch out! She described her ideal woman before the show: "She's Kill Bill, she's Lucy Liu, she's part assassin and part geisha. I think it's that balance that's so unique and fascinating for me. I know I've been accused of being brooding. It isn't about brooding, it's about a sense of discovery. That's what's important to me, and I think Japanese culture gives you that. There's some mystery, and there's some sophistication, and it's not all what you see upfront. It's the influence of modern Japan and Kill Bill, and a very empowering—almost a kind of athletic kind of woman, and at another time, very demure and Geisha-like, so there's tension."
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Mulberry's muses, Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine) and Alexa Chung, were parked in the front row for the English label's poolside presentation on the Soho House roof Tuesday afternoon. The flame-haired inspiration from Welch was immediately evident : all the models sported red wigs, which played against a peaked palette, on silhouettes that called to mind uniforms of various industries. The pool was filled with construction-paper lily pads, publicists passed around sponge cake samples, and sketches of rose trellises papered the awning—full-on English garden Pop. And those bags that made the brand internationally coveted, the ones that Kate and Sienna tote around London—that's where Chung's muse-dom showed. Some were bejeweled; others came in wild tiger stripes (again with the mauve); all will probably be snapped by paparazzi on the arms of pretty, clubby girls everywhere.
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At their show at Lincoln Center on Tuesday morning, Mark Badgley and James Mischka stuck to what they did best—beaded gowns, and lots of them. Out of the 42 looks they showed, 16 were gowns, and many of them were soft shades of pastel. But, according to The Wall Street Journal's Christina Binkley, the collection had a commercial feel: "It was like a trip to the department store, without the men's department," she writes. "I asked Mr. Mischka about the mixing of gowns and quality lines after the show. He responded, "That's how people shop today."
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In his program notes, the Israeli-born designer cited the iconic photography of Irving Penn as the main influence of his slinky, '70s-influenced spring collection. His silhouette was long and lean, with plenty of the wide trousers that have been so common on this season's runways—plus a generous selection of sheer, pearl-toned and lace blouses fitted good and loose in the back so they fluttered like wings as the models breezed by. Styled by Kate Young, the looks were topped off by round sunglasses or neon slashes of orange above the models' eyes, as if someone went a little crazy with a tube of Zinc backstage. Azrouel showed a few pairs of Bermuda shorts (perhaps in honor of Andre Leon Talley's stylistic choices this Fashion Week), but apart from these more sensible pieces—and a final look of tuxedo-and-tails—this was a collection designed less for work than for long strolls—preferably in front of a photographer's lens.
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Endorsed by Michelle Obama, who wears her striped Theallet dresses all over the world, the designer has exploded in popularity in the last year. She showed her spring collection Tuesday to a packed house, in a diorama-style presentation that Women's Wear Daily said moved at an "excruciating one-by-one pace." There were a number of First Lady friendly pieces in the flirty, romantic collection. The Mexican-inspired looks, including flowing peasant skirts and blouses, were perfect for afternoons weeding the White House garden or for diplomatic trips abroad.
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