New York Fashion Week fall 2013: Barbara Tfank review
NEW YORK -- Los Angeles-based designer Barbara Tfank, whose fans include Michelle Obama and Adele, took her uptown collection downtown for fall-winter 2013, hosting her presentation at a Chelsea art gallery, which was appropriate considering the inspiration.
The inspiration: The rich tones and textures in Matisse’s “Odalisque,” which depicts a woman in Ottoman red trousers, lounging in a room full of vivid textiles.
The look: Glorious opulence. Exquisite, colorful fabrics that Tfank develops herself, and classic shapes. A gold and black silk lame column gown with a rolled collar and deep back that was as pretty coming as going. A shocking pink and black trompe l’oeil, lace full-skirted dress with three-quarters sleeves. A pink and black bouquet belted satin smoking jacket with pink fur cuffs and collar, worn with black satin evening pants. A teal and gold brocade slim dress with the reverse of the fabric on an overcoat. A shimmery midnight blue silk bias-cut, ruffle-edge coat, worn with a matching liquidy silk wrap bodice slim dress. (How chic is it to have a cocktail dress and matching evening coat?)
“Everyone is doing all the military thing and tons of black, which is so depressing,” Tfank said of New York Fashion Week. “I mean, really, haven’t we had enough? I wanted a sweetness.”
The verdict: Pure joie de vivre.
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