We’re in the home stretch, gang! The critics are still churning out opinionated pull quotes, and it’s mostly positive: Tracey Reese is going to the bank, Yigal is appealingly dark, and Rodarte is strangely compelling.
Tracy Reese
Tracy Reese sent out more of her signature feminine dresses for fall, in a collection that Style.com deemed “fun, flirty, and uncomplicated.” FWD appreciated the “optimistic and ebullient outlook” projected by bright patterns and prints, and British Vogue lusted after some “seriously good looking” python platform heels designed by Highline United. WWD groused that the collection was “less about a unified theme than a lot of pretty pieces,” but no matter — all agreed that these pretty pieces would sell. Cathy Horyn of the Times declared that the collection’s minidresses, slouchy blazers, and pleated trousers “suddenly look like money in the bank.”
View the Tracy Reese collection.
Yigal Azrouël
Yigal Azrouël wooed critics with his darkly romantic fall collection. Though he didn’t necessarily break new ground, Samantha Critchell of the AP thought Azrouël “showed that he can successfully mix edginess and sexiness.” (Helpfully, she also warned readers that the collection’s peplums — fabric that jets out from the hips — are “not for everyone.”) Style.com said Azrouël tapped into the “Coraline/MisShapes/gothic vibe” with a well-edited selection, and WWD praised the designer’s “controlled edginess.” In particular, it was the leather pieces that sent critics swooning: British Vogue loved a pair of black leather leggings, and FWD called a pin-studded leather jacket “truly covetable.”
View the Yigal Azrouël collection.
Watch a video of the Yigal Azrouël show.
Rodarte
Critics were inspired by the Mulleavy sisters’ daring, space-age showing. Godfrey Deeny of Fashion Wire Daily trumpeted the collection as “a vividly brilliant display of avant garde heroine chic,” and WWD agreed that the pair had “awed again.” Despite describing the spectacle as “an army of aliens who’d beamed down to earth naked … who’d rummaged through the trash and covered themselves with whatever bits of fabric they could find,” British Vogue found “something genuinely heartening” about such an unbridled display of creativity. Though some questioned the wearability of skirts and minidresses that were “cut up Edward Scissorhands–style” (“is there really that big a market for $5,000 tattered tunics?” questioned British Vogue), all agreed with Suzy Menkes of the IHT that, regardless, the clothes presented were “strangely compelling.”
View the Rodarte collection.
Watch a video of the Rodarte show.
