Rounding up New York City’s Fashion Week there were 5 shows that topped our list. First and foremost was the designer duo of Proenza Schouler, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez who wowed us with one of their sexiest although “covered” collections so far. The clothes were dominated by an overall sense of softness and roundness; the color palette was mainly black and white with hints of ecru, steel grey and the palest mint. The textures of the fabrics which have made the Proenza duo so famous were once again amazing, the tweed boucle skirt suits and jackets were actually made out of woven leather and the embroidered dresses had long chain-links running across them. You actually had to get pretty close to understand what you were really seeing. These were clothes that were not shouting, they were whispering.
Our second favorite was Mr. Joseph Altuzarra with a collection which seemed like an ode to his muse Carine Roitfeld, the former editor in chief of French Vogue. Altuzarra took us away from his famous embroidered looks and to the streets with an overtly sexy collection. He brought to our mind images of Helmut Newton’s women, a new era dominatrix I would say and a woman I would love to become.
Moving on to Alexander Wang, just two and a half weeks before his debut show for Balenciaga in Paris, the designer presented a few new silhouettes. We saw dropped waists and an innovative shoulder never seen before. There was roundness and volume, incredible mix of textures and an overall sense of nostalgia which added a sense of drama to otherwise comfortable clothes. As far as the colors in the collection lets just say that Wang managed to cover a lot more than just 50 shades of grey since he actually showed every shade of it imaginable.
Victoria Beckham was another favorite and gave us the sleek, clean, pure, constrained looks we turn to her for. She showed once again the great talent she has in mixing colors and combining fabrics in an intelligent, desirable and wearable way. Beckham showed new lengths in skirts and dresses as well as a new evening look, possibly the best evening look of the whole week, the tuxedo cape.
Fashion week closed with the Marc Jacobs show which was presented twice, first in grey and then in full color. Jacobs had been influenced by “The Weather Project”, an installation of Olafur Elliason at Tate London. At first models walked under a giant sun bringing out an intense yellow light that took all the color away from the clothes. Then, the lights were turned on and the 55 models repeated the circuit under white light which brought the colors back to life. Marc Jacobs showed simple, comfortable, real-life clothes in beautiful materials and colors. Cable knit sweaters, silk pajamas, blazers with great tailoring and sequined evening looks with lavish fox furs along with the prettiest shoes. According to many that was the show of the week.
