Retro is so yesterday
New York
Just when it seemed designers were stuck in a retro rut, along comes a collection like Narciso Rodriguez’s. The designer known for dressing Carolyn Bessette Kennedy unveiled a collection Tuesday that made the fashion flock forget (for a runway minute) about national security and job security. These were clothes to lust after, as superbly tailored as you’ll find anywhere. And the stars came out for them, including Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe, Claire Danes, Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker, who was goo-gooing about baby love and breast pumps to anyone who would listen.
In a week when so many designers have looked to the past, it was refreshing to see a show devoid of retro references. Like Herve Leger and Azzedine Alaia, Rodriguez is so well versed in women’s anatomy, his clothes fit as snugly as underwear. But he’s got a sexy style all his own. It was a collection largely in black and white, with some splashes of pale silver, pink and lavender. There were column dresses, and pencil skirts in whisper-thin leather, wool and silk, some with contrasting geometric insets to further accent the hips and waist. And coats, were there ever coats, in shearling, wool or cashmere, that flared just so at the small of the back. Evening wear, too, was a marvel of construction, from a black silk faille, off-shoulder dress (the only black dress you’d ever need), to a strappy, lavender silk chiffon gown that would stay put (without double-face tape) through the most grueling red carpet performance.
He wasn’t the only one with a sophisticated spin. Leave it to Michael Kors to create a kinder, gentler biker chick and dress her in studded black leather, sure, but also in buttery stretch suede leggings and cashmere thermals. Here was a collection for the woman who might want to take her Harley for a spin down Park Avenue. The fringed leather biker jacket of lore came instead in black cashmere, more of a blanket coat really, for warding off high-speed winds. There was also an anorak lined in raccoon fur, a sable parka with crocodile trim, and a leather coat with grommets at the waist.
Oversized denim jackets that grazed mid-thigh were a bit square, and a stretch jersey mini-dress with a leather harness didn’t seem up to his sexy standards. And what does a hog-riding socialite wear at night? Chains, of course, fashioned into three tiers of silver fringe on a fun miniskirt, or looped and sewn all over a hand-knit dress.
Marc Jacobs’ signature collection may have been steeped in 1960s futurism, but by the time Jacobs presented his lower-priced Marc line at the Lexington Avenue Armory on Tuesday, Twiggy had left the building. Instead, the designer stuck with the rock ‘n’ roll high school look that has made Marc a better seller than his primary line. There were wool pullovers with trompe l’oeil corsets incorporated into the weave, lumberjack-plaid peacoats and cheetah-print corduroy pants. Taxicab yellow-and-black-checked miniskirts were worn with white opaque tights, and there were enough candy-colored, low-heeled pumps with perforated toes, bows and buckles to keep gals’ mouths watering and Jacobs eating well for months to come.
One wishes Richard Tyler’s lower-priced line Tyler was even half as fun. The best pieces were the ones that hinted at Tyler’s flair for tailoring -- patch-pocket jackets in autumnal floral tapestry, wool felt trench coats and Carnaby Street striped stovepipe pants and skinny jeans. But it’s doubtful that silk jersey slip dresses trimmed in lace, some with scarf sleeves, would hold anyone’s attention long enough to reach for a credit card.
Inspired, she said, by the idea of inner beauty and her own ballet lessons, Behnaz Sarafpour is a designer whose star is on the rise. This season, she’s channeling the kind of no-makeup girl who won’t fuss with heels and wears ballet shoes instead. Many pieces, including a black-and-pink mesh gown, had dressmaker details, such as exposed zippers and seams. There were demure wool jackets in black or ivory with bracelet sleeves and shawl collars, worn over pedal pushers or straight skirts. Loosely crocheted, cap sleeve sweaters were sweetly paired with chartreuse, white or black tulle ballet skirts. “I don’t make anything you couldn’t wear out to dinner with your mother,” Sarafpour said.
As if anyone needed to be reminded that times are as tough in the fashion industry as they are everywhere else, Bill Blass designer Lars Nilsson was fired Wednesday, a mere day after he presented his collection. The reason: sluggish sales. “I guess it just goes to show you how tough it is to be a designer these days,” said Nordstrom head buyer Suzanne Patneaude.
Still, there will never be a shortage of young people clamoring at the fashion gates. There was an auspicious debut Wednesday by a pair of 24-year-olds -- Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, opening their Proenza Schouler line. When the pair graduated from Parsons School of Design in April, their senior collection was bought part and parcel by Barneys New York. “It was unprecedented,” said Tim Gunn, chair of the school’s fashion department, who was waiting like a nervous parent for the show to begin.
One by one, models wended their way through the halls of the National Arts Club, where the show was held. The designers wowed the crowd with a leather bolero jacket with a Peter Pan collar; a cotton voile, racer-back tank worn with a sequin dickie; a cocoon-like white leather coat with an oversized raccoon collar; and an easy, metallic gauze dress. The collection exhibited a fresh sensibility, both ladylike and streetwise, that others only wish they could tap into.
Isaac Mizrahi thought so, too. A former “teaching critic” at Parsons, he was there to support the students. “Of all the designers this week, these guys will have the easiest time making it, because there’s a certain authority about these clothes,” proclaimed Mizrahi, who was, of course, forced to close his own business in 1998 for financial reasons. Fashion, smashion, he’s moved on. With a script based on the Jonathan Ames book “The Extra Man” in development, Mizrahi is all about Hollywood now, baby.
