Well, ladies and gents the end of Fashion Week has come and gone. I hope that you were able to watch a few shows live thanks to the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week website and also catch up on a few reviews here at Style Files. Though it is a sad day there are still 3 weeks left of Fashion Month and a whole lot more to talk about. Before we head to London for our next Fashion Week, I want to take a peek at two collections from two of my favorite designers: Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren.
Ralph Lauren always takes us on a journey, whether historical or geographical, and this season is no exception. Black Naval hats, striped sweaters, and neck scarfs had me saying “ahoy matey!” Okay, that was cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself. Lauren’s military inspiration is nothing short of chic and luxurious. Speaking of luxurious, velvet dresses in phenomal colors of dark moss green, grey-blue, and purple gave the heavily menswear inspired collection a feminine touch.
Russian influence was also present with Ushankas replacing the naval caps for several looks, fur-trimmed handbags, and billowing velvet Cossack pants tucked into boots.
Gowns and dresses closed the show and as with any Ralph Lauren collection there are too many to love. Two standouts in particular are the black pleated leather floor-length dress, and a black sleeveless taffeta gown that ties at the neck and creates a kind of nest at the collar.
Marc Jacobs doesn’t just give us the fashion part he gives us a show too. This season Jacobs decided to show his namesake collection at the Lexington Avenue Armory where models walked an enormous circular runway, which literally took center stage. The famed designer also took lighting to another level with a huge sun looking (in color, size, and shape) structure giving the first part of the show a yellow/orange hue… don’t worry there was a round two so that everyone could see what the clothes actually looked like sans the Instagram-like filter.
The shag-wigged models donned burnished pajama dresses and blouses, which looked like they were made of melted silver and gold.
Menswear is present in the collection a la boxy and oversized coats and pinstriped separates.
Shimmer was a huge factor from beginning to end with dresses that looked like they were made entirely of gigantic pieces of gold, black, and silver flecks… and again the molten precious metal look. We are sure to see the likes of Jennifer Lawrence or Rooney Mara in one of these metallic (in the strictest sense) gowns.
By Kristianne Young