The shows rolled on over the weekend for Mercedes Benz New York fashion week as hoards of fashion editors, writers, bloggers, celebrities and wannabes of all sorts clamored to their seats in Lincoln Center and around the city for more of the fashion circus. My fashion spies were certainly on the prowl to bring me the best bits of info.
In particular I must say a few words about the fabulous Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice if you will) the hilariously funny, notoriously paparazzi-fied persona aside this woman can spin the threads! Or at least her team can. Her Spring 2011 offerings were decidedly looser than shows of years past…as is her own personal style. Her dresses-only collection was a mix of smart, approachable shapes that expertly show off a woman’s assets with taste and sophistication. Flow-y parachute silk was wrapped and knotted with ease into a purple day dress, and the same filmy fabric was cut long and lean on a glamorous black evening gown, with absolutely perfect draping to die for. Everything just wreaked of femininity, even the most structured jacquard dresses and the full or fitted skirting shapes. Personally I cannot imagine anyone who wouldn’t want to own one of these gorgeous and flattering dresses.
And of course the golden boy Alexander Wang had plenty to share in his show over the weekend. “I wanted to explore a purity and honesty,” said Wang in the pre-show backstage. Being that Mr. Wang is currently adding a new floor to his TriBeCa offices it’s hard not to notice that perhaps his models looked like fashionable carpenters with a tad bit of plaster and duct tape worked right into the collection….literally! There was clearly a workwear vibe throughout including carpenter pants, overalls and ribbed elastic waistbands on slouchier trousers. There was plenty of deconstruction with Japanese influences and even a little hip-hop bagginess. Overall I am not sure it all worked, I can’t imagine a cropped wide leg carpenter pants flattering most women…but there were clearly some winners in the bunch.
I must give a little shout out to Jason Wu his pretty and sophisticated collection mixed with the perfect amount of flirty fun made for a really wearable show. At times I thought perhaps he was watching the Sex and The City 2 DVD while he sketched because there were several Carrie-esque looks sent down the runway, but none-the-less these are clothes that a modern woman would love to live in with plenty of wide leg trousers, oversize jackets and filmy blouses.
Charlotte Ronson provided the great grunge revival with her Spring Collection. It was the perfect mix of long floral chiffon dresses, layered with flannel plaids, cargo coats and hipster pants… though much of the collection is super casual, these pieces are eternally for the cool girl!
