HITS AND MISSES AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Although nothing startlingly new came out of New York Fashion Week, they were some moments of genius that peeked through the smorgasbord of shows across a cold and wet New York City, MALAN BRETON did a remarkable tribute to his Taiwan homeland in a blaze of red and orange, which paid homage to the beautiful flowers of his home. His clothes are extremely well made as his attention to detail is evident. The long leather corsets clinched dramatic flowing gowns and intricate silk tunics. His long duster coats flowed beautifully along the long runway and his cast of diverse models did the clothes justice. Showing men’s and women’s together came with a great advantage and Malan spared none when he lavished the runway with sweeping soft ankle-length leather coats for men over red print trousers. The pointy shoulder pads on his perfectly tailored jackets and the beautiful Taiwanese blue embroidered silk offerings were stunning. His all-black finale’ was fit for the award season’s red carpet and brought his audience including socialite Jean Shafiroff to a standing ovation. Breton’s presentation was definitely the highlight of Style Fashion Week two day event at Cipriani’s on 42nd Street.

MALAN BRETON

JUNGLE FEVER

TOM FORD brought tailored elegance for his menswear, shown at the Park Avenue Armory. Chiselled shiny suits in bold colors and an array of fitted jackets were the order of the day. His appropriate finale’ featured the gorge male models all in his sexy boxers and briefs, some, sporting Tom’s fresh jungle prints. For his womenswear showing, Tom stuck to lush coats and short jackets in an ode to `80s Beverly Hills chic.’ The signature black headband was in place as was his `Versacesque’ print thighs and animal print, jungle themed dresses and jackets. Brooklyn based, Dominican designer RAUL LOPEZ showed a gender-bending collection at Pier 59 Studios. One has to be careful coming out the box with unisex clothes. A focus was necessary here, but as this designer grows, I think we’ll see more wearable, saleable clothes moving forward.

TOM FORD

FLY ME TO THE MOON

JEREMY SCOTT had the moon on his mind as he showed a space-age odyssey at the Spring Studios new fashion week venue. All of the dazzle and shine, topped by short bob-wigs of every color, overshadowed some really cool garments like the two-piece ensemble modeled by Gigi Hadid. The big snow boots looked heavy and clunky for the catwalk. Patchwork fur and some heavy wooly leggings tied above the knees were totally impractical. PHILLIPE PLEIN gave the most over-the-top show of the season. Rap trio Migos performed a really loud set before the models slid out in the fake snow that was uncomfortably everywhere. All of the drama including a huge spaceship coming down in the middle of a large empty warehouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; show falling indoors; (the snow was so much that rapper Asap Rocky laid down and made snow angel wings). Snowmobiles were in motion; a huge robot walking model Irina Shayk down the catwalk and UFO sightings overshadowed the cumbersome silver space suits, skiwear, studded leather bodysuits and oversized jumpsuits fit for space travel. Plein spent $5 million on this show, yet, he had editors standing in the pouring rain, in line, for close to an hour before entering the warehouse and another hour wait before the show started. Plus, guests had to schlep all the way to Brooklyn for this spectacular. `Why?’ was the word among bloggers and writers. This designer is 39 years-old, born in Germany. He has 80 stores around the world and is reported to be adding 30 more. He has homes in Cannes, France, Lugano, Italy and New York City.

PHILLIPE PLEIN

BOSS LADY
ALEXANDER WANG summoned his show guests to 4 Times Square, the old Conde’ Nast headquarters. With Vogue’s editor-in-chief front and center, sitting next to new rap sensation Cardi B, Wang’s show entitled “Boss Lady” was right on trend with a flashback to the female power suit featuring big shoulders. Alexander was one of the few designers who showed a cohesive “fall-winter” collection featuring fabulous coats, seasonal jackets, and warm scarves.There was a feeling of uniformity and a sense of women wearing clothes as armor, which Anna Wintour described as “women going to battle,” PRABAL GURUNG said his inspiration came by way of two female-dominated societies: the Matriarchal Mosuo tribe in China and the activist Gulabi Gang in India. The connection between these two groups is the color pink and Prabal used it to his advantage showing pink in various hues for his beautifully crafted garments which rang `Fall Winter cover-ups.’

PRABAL GURUNG

ROLLER COASTER WAN

SON JUNG WAN opened with a soundtrack of old-school 80s disco music `Roller Coaster’ `A-E-I-O-U’….and the clothes reflected a true roller coaster. A yellow silk jumpsuit with a fox fur hood and scarf, an ill-fitted yellow dress with fox fur trimmings, floral top, and yellow velvet pants…Son missed the mark with most of these mismatched, patchwork and fur accents on jackets and pants. This collection should have been edited and refined for wearability. Shown alongside her fussy menswear, her standouts included the long silver jeweled duster coat, her chain collar grey jacket, the cute asymmetrical dress with chain detail and some delightful mesh stockings embellished with tiny clusters of dazzling jewels.

JUNG WAN

WOMAN POWER LOOKS
New York Fashion Week came to a dramatic end when seasoned designer and fashionista favorite MARC JACOBS flooded the catwalk with a bevy of strong women almost completely covered. They stomped out wearing big combat boots, barely seen under bulky, oversized coats in lush fabric, worn with huge voluminous scarves – their faces almost covered with huge hats. It was truly a grand finale’ for fashion week in a show that Marilyn Kirschner described as “Yves Saint Laurent on steroids.”

MARC JACOBS