Larocca: Proenza Schouler Stays Young at HeartThe designers themselves are so young and so adorable, it only makes sense that their clothes would be right for their female equivalents.
Basso & Brooke, Gareth Pugh Keep London’s Freak Flag FlyingLacking the big names of New York, Milan, and Paris, London Fashion Week is always about creativity. Once designers make a name there, they can move on to New York, as Preen and Jonathan Saunders have recently done. But aside from spotting future stars, the fun of the week really lies in the fact that “creativity” is often just another word for “freak show.”
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Critics Laud Calvin and Vera, Puzzle Over Posen and SuiAt Calvin Klein, critics marveled at Francisco Costa’s geometric minimalism and also admired Vera Wang’s newfound sensuality. Anna Sui proved quirky but entertaining to most critics, while Zac Posen’s clothes raised brows and questions. See what well-chosen adjectives made it to press in our review roundup.
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Subdued, Modest Chic at Calvin KleinFrancisco Costa, the designer at Calvin Klein, takes his mandate as New York’s minimalist-in-chief quite seriously. His commitment to the line is admirable: Each of the looks in today’s collection could’ve been cut with laser. The palette was navy, black, and gray; any bits of flash were subdued, in some cases beneath a layer of sheer cashmere.
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Critics Hail Marchesa and Marc by Marc JacobsPerhaps giddy from the unseasonable weather, critics were warm to Michael Kors and Rodarte and practically red-hot with lust for Marchesa and Marc by Marc Jacobs. Consider these adjectives (used in reviews) in order of increasing positivity: “almost camp,” “high-polish,” and “exuberant.” Find out which designer drove critics to the thesaurus in our review roundup.
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Vera Wang Gets HeavyVera Wang’s ready-to-wear collection is, unlike her bridal and red-carpet pieces, intensely personal. Wang has spent her entire adult life obsessed with fashion, and these are the clothes she wants to make because she dreamed them.
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Derek Lam Articulates Feminine LuxuryFashion can be mercilessly fickle: Designers are quite often dismissed just as soon as they’re discovered. So thank God for Derek Lam, who has slowly, methodically, and quietly worked his way toward a collection that is now a mainstay of what we consider American fashion.
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Michael Kors Designs for the Gossip GirlsMuch of the blondest hair in New York can be found in the front row at a Michael Kors fashion show. Kors, who is a master of the campy one-liner, is something of a court designer to those women who are so fortunate as to maintain a nutty brown complexion twelve months a year without ever visiting a tanning salon. He knows exactly how to show off those Palm Beach tans and blonde, blonde hair, making them shine and making them look their best.
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Critics Praise Proenza, Oscar But Wonder About Carolina Herrera, HalstonProenza Schouler’s fall collection delighted critics, even as they considered the clothes too unattainable for all but the designers’ “socialite pals.” Carolina Herrera’s equestrian theme led to accusations of “costumery,” Cathy Horyn is a powerful advocate for the resurrected Halston line, and Oscar de la Renta may be contemplating inaugural gowns. Our review roundup has the rest.
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Rodarte: Light and Dreamy and UnattainableIn our mass-marketed and manufactured era, Laura and Kate Mulleavy, the designers of Rodarte, know the value of a little handworked originality. Their crafty collections bring a bit of the personal into an industry increasingly defined by the mass production of pricey key fobs, four-figure handbags, and heavy bottles of perfume.
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Critics Herald DVF, Send a Chill to DKNYBig Names are showing daily, and the critics are quick to praise or pick apart. Diane Von Furstenberg’s femme-fatale look was lauded, but Max Azria’s resurrection of the Hervé Léger label was mixed. Jonathan Saunders charmed most reviewers, but not Cathy Horyn. And Donna Karan’s time-traveling collection was confusing to all but WWD.
