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A moment of Zen at Phillip Lim, foreboding at Thom Browne and more at Fashion Week

From left, models present creations from the spring 2016 collections of Phillip Lim, Thom Browne and Rag and Bone.

From left, models present creations from the spring 2016 collections of Phillip Lim, Thom Browne and Rag and Bone.

(Peter Foley / EPA (left), Bryan R. Smith / AP (center and right))
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New York Fashion Week is an intense experience, from the photographers who can knock you down on the sidewalk trying to get that perfect street-style shot of someone in your path, to the runway looks that fly by in an Insta instant, ready to capture, share and move on to the next.

So it’s not surprising that several designers have set out to create memorable moments of Zen in the midst of the madness, whether with meditative performance art (Givenchy), chanting monks (Prabal Gurung), or by getting back to the earth, as much as fashion can do (Phillip Lim).

Lim celebrated the 10th anniversary of his collection by working with artist and environmentalist Maya Lin to create an earthy runway installation, piled high with 200 tons of organic soil, ready to be planted with packets of seeds that came in each show invitation. ‎(After the show, the ‎soil was to be transferred to community gardens.)

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I remember seeing one of Lim’s first runway shows in New York, when he collaborated with Los Angeles designer Koi Suwannagate on T-shirts with sculptural rosettes that elevated the humble, everyday piece of clothing to new heights. And his collection has continued to grow out of that relaxed romanticism.

For spring 2016, he showed anoraks, frilly blouses, ponchos, paper-bag-waist trousers, mixed-media pinstripe and floral flounce skirts, molded leather tops and boleros, each piece with a noticeable, special twist, proving why his clothes have become the seeds of so many women’s wardrobes.

Photos: Celebs at NYFW spring 2016

There was also lots to wear at Rag and Bone, where Kiernan Shipka was in the seats at St. Ann’s Warehouse, the Brooklyn performance space that has played host to Nick Cave, David Bowie and others.

This season, designers David Neville and Marcus Wainwright’s collection felt like it would be particularly relevant, because Rag and Bone, founded in 2002, really helped pioneer the streety, layered, utilitarian look that is sweeping the runways for spring.

Indeed, all the basics were here — bomber jackets, anoraks, cargo culottes, slip dresses, tweedy knit tube skirts and tank dresses, worn with platform goddess sandals or high-top sneakers for women on the move.‎

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The designers nodded to the venue’s musical past, by tapping the Brooklyn Youth Choir for accompaniment, though sadly, the singers were hidden from view from most of the guests, including those who won tickets through a lottery with ride-sharing service Uber. ‎Not much of a performance.

By contrast, Thom Browne’s shows can be among fashion’s best performances, albeit squirm-inducing and sinister (over the years, his oeuvre has included insane asylums, models rising from coffins and more.)

This season’s set was a wood-frame school house, bathed in pastel light, surrounded by the happy trappings of suburbia — picket fence, garden hedge and all. Hair-raising braids, literally sticking straight up, through hats, signaled that this childhood fantasy was seriously fractured. The pair of legs crushed underneath the schoolhouse, Wicked Witch-style, was another clue.‎ Did the students stage a coup?

Per usual, the procession of models was slow, all the better to see the extraordinary work that goes into every Thom Browne piece. Browne has an affinity for uniforms, and his schoolgirl blazers and skirts were out in full force, sometimes with shirttails hanging below the hem.

The collection had a craftsy, folk art feel, with candy-colored gingham, seersucker, eyelet and ‎stripes, depicting pastoral landscapes, geishas, cherry blossoms, cranes and other Japanese motifs. In the end, the collision of beauty and sense of foreboding always makes for an unforgettable experience.

The same kind of rigorous, mind-boggling hand work goes into Kate and Laura ‎Mulleavy’s Rodarte collections. This season, they said they were inspired by their favorite poetry, not in a literal or even visual sense, but emotionally.

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And indeed, the care with which each strip of lace, silk chiffon, velvet and fringe was placed on their collagey dresses, was akin to the way a poet chooses and arranges words.

Shimmery pajama-style pants and soft peplum jackets, silk tie blouses, bushy Mongolian fur coats, tweed trousers that faded into lace and sequins at the ankles, and crystal-studded metallic platform shoes cast a glam rocker spell, reminiscent of what Hedi Slimane has been doing at Saint Laurent, but with more of a sense of surprise.

The collection didn’t break a lot of new ground for the L.A. designers (we’ve seen a lot of those sash dresses from them before), so much as it reseeded and rearranged existing elements, which seems to be a theme this season.

But it was still beautiful to behold.

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Gigi Hadid among supermodels at DVF; elsewhere at NYFW, pajamas!

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