Carr Is in Driver’s Seat With New Label
Zack Carr has captured the attention of the international fashion pack, which came out in force recently to see his fall, 1986, collection--the first under his own name.
Carr is no fledgling designer. He was Calvin Klein’s design assistant for nine years, which may explain the great interest shown by the press for a relatively unknown name.
Italian Company
Two years ago, he de-Kleined and signed with Gruppo Finanziario Tessile, the giant Italian company that manufactures and distributes European-designer collections worldwide, including lines by Valentino, Emmanuel Ungaro and Giorgio Armani. Carr, who is designing under the Zack Carr Collection label, is GFT’s first venture with an American designer.
“I want women to feel their new mentalities and their bodies when they wear my clothes,” says Carr, whose Texas drawl curves around vowels much the way his designs curve easily around a woman’s form.
“The curved fit is meant to flow on a woman’s body and enhance it,” he adds. “It doesn’t capture them even though it’s tailored.”
Carr explains that for the past two years he’s been speaking to a lot of women across the United States, “and I kept hearing them say they wanted clothes that work with their lives. That’s not a new concept. American sportswear is based on being realistic about design. But today more than ever, women’s lives have been streamlined both personally and professionally. So the overall look of the collection is streamlined. It’s simple, strong--definitive with a sense of activity and modernity. It’s not nostalgic for another period of time. It’s the 1980s.”
Carr throws his new curves through a combination of knitwear and fabrics cut to conform to the body in an easy, supple way with no hard edges evident in his subtle tailoring. His shapes, he says, are meant to be sophisticated but also natural.
Curved jackets and contour coats have extended shoulders that don’t end in right angles; they round down. They’re worn over slim skirts or beautifully tailored trousers and are teamed with simple T-shirts, tanks and crew or polo sweaters.
There are also easy shirt-jackets, smock jackets, boleros, cardigans and blazers that conform to the curved concept. The chemise, shirtwaist and coatdress also are part of Carr’s easy idiom.
Carr’s knits and other fabrics are as sensual as the shapes he prefers. Cashmere, lamb’s wool and wool jerseys conform to the curves. Suits in subtle herringbones, checks or twills--some with jackets that are slightly nipped to accentuate the waist--look right for the executive without being self-consciously dress-for-success wear.
The supple look and cut of Carr’s suits, blazers, dresses and tops make them easy to translate in both leather and suede. A terrific black calfskin blazer looks like a cross between fur and velvet. There is subtle texture in a blazer and pants in black jersey pique and in other separates in a pointillist-printed wool. Other top coats, T-shirts, skirts and pants in black denim look like the ideal weight for West Coast winters.
‘Simplicity in Color’
“There is also a simplicity in color so you can interwork items from the collection,” says Carr, whose basic stone-color palette ranges from darkest coal to slate and pale palomino. For added color, he includes shades of pale grass green, dark plum, mauve, pink and deep fuchsia.
For evening, Carr says he prefers streamlined simplicity to a sumptuous look. Again, fabrics have a sensual quality: velvets, silks, satins and a just-barely-see-through gauze.
Crepe Robes
A lamb’s wool mantilla, which resembles a cocoon coat, is worn over a slip dress with one diagonal strap that crosses the chest. Curved crepe robes that show lots of decolletage drape easily over crepe evening pants. A black lamb’s wool crew sweater and pants look ultramodern with a gauze overskirt that adds some glamour. There is also simple drama in a platinum satin robe--you may as well call it an opera coat--over a stark black crew sweater and trousers. Sexy black or deep fuchsia velvet strapless cocktail dresses form the Carr curve across the bosom.
Carr has also designed an accompanying line of accessories, including hooded scarfs in leather or knit, knit tights cut to conform closely to the leg and a group of handbags, beauty cases, portfolios and small luggage in leather--apparently aimed for the woman on the move.
“When I talk about working women, I don’t just mean corporate types but those who are also active in other areas of their lives. My collection is for women who feel confident in themselves. These clothes are meant to restate that confidence.”
The Zack Carr Collection will be available at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman-Marcus this summer.
