The Wet Look, Rain or Shine
If you like to be one season ahead of the fashion pack, now is the time to buy something made of vinyl. It appears that patent leather, along with synthetic look-alikes, will be everywhere by fall. Slick and shiny as midnight rain, black is the preferred patent color but white, orange and red have also been seen on runways.
Big-name designers across Europe mixed it with traditional fall fabrics. French designer Thierry Mugler used it for playsuits and leggings in black, white or pale-blue.
Vinyl tights and bodysuits were the basis of many evening styles at Chanel. Emanuel Ungaro showed oil-slick miniskirts under plaid jackets.
The Italians got in the act too. Gianfranco Ferre liked red patent-leather trench coats; Ferragamo featured shiny bra tops; Giorgio Armani showed lizard-printed patent-leather suits.
A few prescient designers and manufacturers made vinyl skirts, jackets, boots and coats for their spring lines.
Los Angeles designer Katayone Adeli for Laundry is showing a black mini priced at about $70, available at Bullock’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. Thigh-high, kitten-with-a-whip vinyl boots are available at Sacha London, priced at $125. Vinyl motorcycle jackets are at Neiman Marcus, and trench coats priced around $300 are at Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.
Azzedine Alaia of Paris was one of the first designers to take a shine to patent leather. He has been using the genuine article for skirts, shorts and motorcycle-style jackets since last fall.
Not to overlook a fashion plate’s feet, Los Angeles retailer Shauna Stein has patent-leather mules from Stephan Kelian, pumps from Maud Frizon and other vinyl and patent items.
The big push for shiny leather goods will come in September, Stein says, and her customers will be ready for it. “It’s another excuse for them to wear black.”
