A Story in Parts
The winds and rains from Hurricane Floyd sweeping the streets of Manhattan forced the shutdown of most fashion shows scheduled Thursday at the tents at Bryant Park, where designers have been presenting their spring collections this week.
Only three designers, including Bill Blass, managed to squeeze in their shows by noon, when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ordered all nonessential businesses to close for the day. By then, water was leaking through and under the tents.
Before Mother Nature so rudely intruded, it was fashion as usual. The buzz was about irreverent runway looks that are typically unattainable--or undesirable to the average woman. John Bartlett’s collection, for example, was stunning but sometimes sexy.
But, thankfully, several designers managed to convey more wearable looks for the first spring of the new millennium.
The designers who have shown their collections so far are embracing decidedly casual and sportswear looks. The emphasis is on separates--for day and night. Hence the resurgence of denim--the ultimate fashion/anti-fashion statement. The fabric showed up in collections of designers as different as Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta.
Everything seems to glimmer and shimmer for spring. Whether it’s a midriff-bearing jacket, camisole, pants or tunic, the clothes are splashed with sequins, crystals or beaded embroidery.
Skirts for spring are mostly flowing and knee length in a variety of fabrics, including shimmering shantung, organza, satin, chiffon, taffeta and tulle (which, in some creations, was layered so thick on a gown that it could float in Pasadena’s New Year’s Day Rose Parade).
Straight leg pants, beaded from waist to hem, showed up on many runways as many in the audience wondered if the beading would pop off when worn by people on the street instead of models. Reinterpretations of the five-pocket jeans were plentiful as were flared pants and, amazingly, hot pants.
Designers reinvented traditional silhouettes, detailing them with ruffles, embroidery, eyelet cutouts on leather, frayed hems, fringe and top-stitching detail. In short, hippie-chic and ethnic looks are still going strong.
White Will Be
the New Black
Getting the most buzz: color, lots of it, especially yellow from shades of Big Bird brights to more muted buttery hues. Fruit colors of lime, raspberry and melon mix with lilac, mint, blue and red. White will be next spring’s new black, and khaki, even designers concede, is a spring color.
Also being talked about is the appearance of several European designers, including Donatella Versace, who had been away for two years since the murder of her brother, Gianni. But the one standout was Lawrence Steele, a 36-year-old African American designer who was born in Hampton, Va., and for the last several years has been designing in Milan.
Steele, who apprenticed with the late Franco Moschino, also worked for Prada before branching out on his own in 1995 with backing from Casor, an Italian company that produces Pucci.
His Wednesday show dazzled the crowd with sheer skirts overlayed with strips of fabric in vibrant, primitive prints. His knits were slashed in the armholes and on their backs for a Lady Punk suit look.
Fabrics consisted of bonded satin, leather, glossy chiffon, feathered raffia, plastic, and pewtered studs along the hips of trousers and skirts.
Buckles, straps, zippers and bands were used on several garments as embellishment. White leather coats were lined in exotic black and white prints.
Unlike other designers’ use of the standard-sized sequin, Steele opted for big--and not just in size, but also in big colors like fluorescent orange square plastic sequins on knee-length skirts that were paired with hot fuchsia backless tops.
He favored peacock colors in turquoise and bold blues, like cobalt.
“I just wanted my collection to be sexy. My thing is to exalt the feminine nature in a woman,” Steele said backstage after the show about his first runway exposure in the United States.
He said his collection--by far, the most cutting edge--was certainly eccentric, but it was also modern as well as futuristic with his yin and yang themes “of refined versus primitive, urban versus tribal and natural versus technical.”
“I think it went really well. I really wanted to do this show, and I wanted to do something aggressive because New York is an aggressive city,” Steele said.
Ralph Lauren’s Red,
White and Blue Hues
Also on Wednesday, Ralph Lauren presented his show of patriotism with his new collection cast in red, white and blue--and in enough gingham on little minis and evening skirts (like the one Calista Flockhart wore to the Emmys on Sunday) to outfit America on the next Fourth of July.
He also gave a nod to the emerging trends of the season, including midriff-baring tops, pants cropped above the ankle, perforated leather and skirts that drop just below the knee with three tiers of ruffles. Body-hugging jackets were teamed with flirty flounced-hem skirts.
Lauren pushed his western theme in new directions with leather laced-up vests and matching laced-up trousers worn with a polka-dotted bra.
Tommy Hilfiger also played with the vivid colors of Old Glory at his rock ‘n’ roll-inspired collection.
The designer went for sizzle and showmanship Tuesday night with a 1970s Wild, Wild West theme and fashion extravaganza at the Theater at Madison Square Garden attended by a reported 3,000 people.
A collection of crystal-fringed bell-bottoms, snakeskin biker vests and cowboy boots emblazoned with “Tommy Rocks,” hit the runway at the show that also included the thrashing sounds of the rock band Bush.
Two giant video screens broadcast the event for spectators that viewed the ensembles from exaggerated bootleg jeans to the hot rod leathers appliqued with flame-patterns on the sleeves of jackets and the legs of trousers. Long silk chiffon skirts were laden with Swarovski crystals that were shown with Hilfiger cowboy boots.
The collection featured microminis with crystal fringe and leather jeans embroidered with star pockets and sequined stripes, several worn with red and blue ruffled tuxedo shirts.
BCBG Max Azria brought looks of handmade touches of embroidery, beading and appliques to simple clean lines. A simple blue suede dress sported appliques at the right shoulder as well as on the skirt at the left thigh. Be-ribboned slip hems peeked out from skirts.
Michael Quintanilla can be reached by e-mail at socalliving@latimes.com.
