Proenza Schouler's recent seasons have been all about neon—bright green, blue, red in combinations of tie dye and animal print—and this collection was no exception. But instead of the shiny mini-dresses that have found their way into every starlet's closet this past year ( think of Rihanna in that tie-dyed pleated number), their new collection seemed all grown up. Electric tweeds blanketed the runway at the Chelsea show, but mingled with incredibly sexy mesh dresses and tops. Cathy Horyn wrote that the fabrics "run over the body like a melted Chanel." Proenza's collaboration with Jean Yu yielded neon mesh lingerie that peeked out beneath the tweeds. The result was an irreverent and naughty take on classic conservatism—a Graduate-like feel of spying on an older woman in her boudoir.
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Intricacy and beauty in the Proenza Schouler collection came in the form of unexpected texture. And this year, those textures were tweed and silk shibori, a Japanese fabric that shimmies on the body like plastic tubes. Throw in a little mesh, a canvas bag, and a python shoe, and poof! You have an elaborately textured collection.
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Accessories have always been a strong suit for Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez (as in their ubiquitous PS1 bags), and it's clear that the bags and necklaces they introduced this season are primed for similar commercial success. The Betty Draper aesthetic returned with the pill-box purse (signature straps and hardware are still there) and offbeat stripes. Necklaces were the opposite: oversize and totemic (was that an owl head?). That will surely be slung around every neck next season.
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Anna Sui may have sent out the most political message of New York Fashion Week: Make clothes, not war! Her show, lit in orange against a prairie house backdrop, went no-stops Woodstock. Hippies, day trippers, and dreamers of the golden dream paraded by the likes of Bruce Weber, Bill Cunningham, Simon Doonan, and Kelly Osbourne in crocheted gowns, patchwork vests, and feather-trimmed headdresses.
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The hippie theme at Anna Sui may seem like it could have been too costume-y for reality, or for another New York Fashion Week meme, "wearability," but it wasn't—the peasant tops, flowing skirts and gratuitous sequins are all utilitarian, and gracefully so. One intricately printed fringe dress was toughened up by a laced-up commando boot.
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Tory Burch did a lot of what she does best for her spring collection, presented early Wednesday morning to a dense crowd of buyers and editors at Lincoln Center. It was all there—the staple trouser, cropped and stiff in wispy blue or long with a flare in lemon denim; the endlessly versatile slim-cut blazer; the day-to-night silken shirt-dress.
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Burch threw in a little hippie flair for her Ice Storm set, with peasant blouses, ribbon sandals, and one white top with a bold, intricate coral neckline. But otherwise, the collection was country-club approved, down to the little-bitty bow stitched just so into the back of her tea-party khaki skirts, so they sit right in the center of the wearer's behind.
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At his show first-thing on Wednesday morning, Michael Kors did what Michael Kors does best: make sellable clothes. His collection, which opened with several sheer tank dresses stayed faithful to his tried-and-true genre of traditional American sportswear. Silhouettes were sleek, and colors were standard: whites, grays, and camels. A few pops of color were the highlights of his collection: a sunny mod dress with a bracelet sleeve and pink and green cocktail dresses complete with floral appliqué that made them look just like the wall of grassy shrubs behind the runway.
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Models pranced around Kors' runway to the tune of "Here Comes The Sun," which set the mood of the cheerful collection—which brought forward a few great bathing suits. Karolina Kurkova modeled a grass-green two-piece with long sweater; and this white look.
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Phoebe Philo's arms must be tired, since in addition to last spring's blockbuster Celine collection, she's apparently been ghost-designing for half of New York. Phillip Lim's show Wednesday was awash with New Austerity—all monochromatic shifts and suits, layered smartly and worn atop some serious clodhopper clogs. The omnipresent Kanye West, Coco Rocha, and Alexa Chung filled out Lim's massive front row at the Park Avenue Armory, shielding their eyes from the glare of klieg lights that illuminated models as they loped around the miles-long runway. In the center of the room were large art pieces that looked like section's of the biggest crown moulding ever made. Tweeted Elle's Style Director Joe Zee: "Love giving @kanyewest a fist pump on way into Phillip Lim show. GTL (Get To Lim). #NYFW"
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Lim's palette went well against this stark background: all nudes, whites and a kind of Pan Am blue, befitting the uniform-like designs (many of which were belted with tasseled ropes). There were truly elegant pieces scattered through the collection—including a white trench-style dress with black stitching evocative of that Marc Jacobs show-closing stunner last fall—but the eye here was on commercial, and commercial abounded. Slacks, frocks, and a procession of sleek, functional handbags will be just the thing this spring for the hard-working Lim gal.
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No one does pretty like Georgina Chapman and her team at Marchesa, who showed their collection in a presentation at the Chelsea Art Museum Wednesday afternoon that was so crowded, the downstairs circuit of showrooms achieved fire-hazard levels of heat and density. A fixer held a long straw up from a bottle of water to the lips of one of the models, paralyzed somewhere among the many chiffon frills of her elaborate, wedding-cake style Oscar dress.
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The dresses themselves were every little girl's fantasy. Some were hand-painted with elaborate folds and jewels in the back. Some had a delicate armor of gemstones overlaying the bodice, reminiscent of the body-jewelry from designer Bliss Lau. Reams upon reams of crinoline were sacrificed in the name of Marchesa's spring collection, but whatever lucky starlets (and Arabian princesses) come to wear these dresses will feel like goddesses on their special night.
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Stars turned out for the presentation and to pay court to Chapman's husband, titan Harvey Weinstein, who was seen at one point showing off photos of the couple's newborn to a woman and her young daughter. Actress Gabby Sidibe made an appearance, as did ubiquitous Jessica Szohr. Handlers were reportedly handing out plastic cups of M&Ms and crudités to models and guests at one point to help everyone stay vertical in the crowded room.
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Reed Krakoff's sophomore season was urban and sleek with a tribal flare—as if Helmut Lang had gone to Africa. He featured loose leathers, and papery fabrics and paired them with stacked tube necklaces and sandals covered in blond pony hair. Julianne Moore, who took a model turn this week when she walked in Tom Ford's show, sat front row in a black Krakoff dress and fur sandals. For the finale, Krakoff sent out a gold python mini-dress with a black-band across the waist. "I really liked the gold dress!" Moore said after the show. But what about its red leather counterpart? "I liked it," she said, "but the red leather I can't wear."
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