Getting back in the game
Fashion week, which started Sunday, seemed to lose some of its momentum at the Standard hotel downtown by midweek, with lots of empty seats at the shows, models who looked like they were sleepwalking and celebrity eye-candy at a minimum.
Then along came Louis Verdad whose hotly anticipated show picked up the tempo Thursday and even attracted a few A-listers, including Rita Wilson.
The designer, whose star has been on the rise since he started dressing Madonna this year, gave fashion followers a swift kick in their size 4 pants. His 1940s silver screen queens, with bow-shaped red lips and movie star curls, vamped down the runway in sexy tailored separates that successfully straddled the line between being campy and wearable.
Each piece had drama: trousers slit high up the legs, ornamented with interesting buckles or buttons; belted linen jackets; and sweet, polka-dotted blouses with perfectly peaked and rounded shoulders.
A silk ivory dress with black piping and a tiered, polka-dotted skirt was a knockout. However, his short-sleeve, cotton voile shirt dresses, which came in several colors, were too derivative of the satin versions at Louis Vuitton last spring.
Putting the suit aside, Richard Tyler struck a softer tone for spring.Indeed, you might have thought you’d wandered into a Ralph Lauren show after seeing his delicately beaded gown in a rose garden floral chiffon, or his embroidered cream lace tunic dress.
There was a slight whiplash effect to his overall collection; a cap-sleeved, black silk organza top with beaded and looped ribbon details around the waist paired with a short, black silk chiffon skirt, conjured images of gladiators, about as far from a tea party as you can get.
It was nice to see the designer finally nail his year-old lower-price Tyler line, which had gotten off to a rocky start. The smart, youthful collection included a covetable green silk boucle jacket with ribbons at the cuffs and pockets, and, for men, a festive black velvet tuxedo jacket with floral embroidery.
Swimwear designer Ashley Paige captured the California state of mind with a killer 1970s pop soundtrack (Joni Mitchell, Rita Coolidge, Olivia Newton-John), and models with fanciful twigs in their hair, who looked as if they had just taken a romantic tumble in the sand. Her knits were dreamy, including a caramel macrame one piece suit with peek-a-boo cutouts over the breasts and tiers of ruffles , a bikini with a subtle magic mushroom pattern, and an even teenier bikini in a bold coral, pink and blue flower power print.
Unwearable for all but the most bodacious bods, Paige’s swimwear brings new meaning to the term “cheeky.” But she is creating Lycra suits in more generous cuts that will be in stores for spring.
Frankie B. designer Daniella Clarke also seemed to have summer lovin’ on the brain. She paired bohemian chic baby-doll tops in lilac paisley or ruffled silk charmeuse and corduroys with front patch-pockets, or jersey pants ruched around the ankles. Moving beyond the low-riding jeans she pioneered, she delved into tailored pieces, including a great pink corduroy jacket with orange piping and elbow patches, and a white patent leather coat with pink trim.
In one of Alicia Lawhon’s strongest collections to date, the designer deconstructed preppy basics, giving them an edgy thrift store feel. The lapel of a basic olive green blazer spouted green chiffon ruffles, and a sequin-dusted tank top was worn upside down, with the straps hanging at the hips. A black-and-white paisley debutante dress, with a checkerboard apron sewn on top, flirted with punk rock.
At Tree, Theresa McAllen and Beverly Klein combined delicate cotton eyelet and tone-on-tone embroideries to make beautiful patchwork sundresses and skirts in bright shades of raspberry or orange with the same arty feel as clothes by Belgian designer Dries Van Noten.
Former Richard Tyler assistant Erica Davies showed an eight-minute film of her first solo effort, separates with very cool details, such as pin tucking and nail heads. It was an intimate, if low-budget, way to view a collection.
Eduardo Lucero’s collection of dresses was thoroughly doused in champagne ruffles and doily-like cutouts that was pretty, if predictable.
Elsewhere, the shows didn’t do much to elevate L.A.’s reputation beyond a teen market. Mon Petit Oiseau is a consistently salable collection, though one wonders whether Saturday play clothes -- a colorful Japanese floral print skirt, a denim herringbone jumper, and whimsical striped jersey separates -- really need to be shown on a runway.
The former design assistant to Jennifer Nicholson, Jenni Kayne received lots of buzz last season when Maxfield picked up her first collection. But she may need to regroup. Satin cone bra tops and minidresses dripping garters looked more suited to the shops on Melrose Avenue than a designer boutique.
New York designer Nicole Miller came West to introduce her Miller Girl line. A silk camouflage cargo skirt, a motorcycle jacket in sweatshirt fabric and a black fleece minidress with a mini-bustle will fit right in here. It was carpetbagging at its best.
