New York – For once, the weather outside matched what was being shown on the runway.
People arriving at the tents in Bryant Park during the recent round of Fashion Week showings for fall-winter 2007 were swaddled in fur coats, trapper hats and knee-high boots. Voluminous neck scarves, gloves and a steaming cup of coffee were the de rigueur accessories.
Designers must anticipate another cold winter because they poured on the fur, supersized the sweaters and draped models in enough layers to make the fashion faithful at least temporarily forget the skinny-model controversy.
Something else was at work too. While there were carryovers from the babydoll-minidress-ballet flats-naivete that ran through the spring ’07 lines now arriving in stores, the clothes had a more grown-up appeal than we’ve seen in some time.
The fall outfits are what a female executive or entrepreneur wants in her closet, and it’s not a man-tailored suit. Swingy jackets, well-cut pants, body-skimming dresses and ruffled blouses are in the picture for fall. As is a muted – and at times somber – palette of grays, browns and black.
A cinematic quality
Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera can be expected to parade ladylike clothes in rich fabrics, but you never know what Marc Jacobs is going to do. In past collections, he’s done grunge and mod, or rooted around Grandmother’s trunk.
This time, Jacobs demonstrated his ability to be both directional and relevant. When the red velvet curtain finally opened at the New York Armory, it revealed more than 50 models posed tableau vivant-style in front of giant doors. They wore slim tailored coats, pleated skirts that fell below the knee and Spencer jackets paired with trousers. The procession that followed had a cinematic quality, as if the models had walked off a movie set.
Maybe it was all the brimmed hats, gloves and clutch bags, but the outfits managed to incorporate touches of earlier eras, like the 1920s, without looking retro. There were great coats in cavalry twill, roomy ribbed cashmere sweaters and alpaca tunics over pants and, for evening, short black satin dresses.
At times it was hard to focus on the outfits for all the covetable accessories: fedoras with knit crowns by Stephen Jones, crocodile or ostrich handbags, and high-heeled oxfords described in the program notes as “hand-oiled and polished.”
Jacobs looked polished himself when he came out to take a bow, with short hair, a crisp shirt tucked into pants.
Herrera and de la Renta must be oblivious to the anti-fur movement because they piled on the pelts, even showing some furs in their collections that haven’t been spotted on the runways for a while. Herrera used muskrat as well as fox on her sweaters, while de la Renta trimmed jackets in wolverine and used coyote for a coyote vest and boots.
George Sharp’s designs for Ellen Tracy were more accessible, though all the major trends were on the runway: swingy shapes, long, flowing sleeves, enormous collars and orphanage-drab colors of black, grown and gray. But they were done in the label’s typically toned-down, fashionable-without-looking ridiculous manner that fans love.
With the exception of a few dresses, the collection was devoted to flyaway or belted short jackets over slim pants topped by swingy, double-faced coats. There were flashes of color like paprika red, a little fur trim and a touch of sparkle in a bugle-beaded turtleneck for evening. The styles were nothing to stop the presses, but pretty and wearable nonetheless.
A trend toward the trendier
Not everything on the runways was for the working woman or socialite. Designers like Max Azria have a younger, trendier customer in mind.
At Azria’s show, “Big Girl You Are Beautiful,” by Mika, boomed on the soundtrack as the usual platoon of pin-thin models trooped down the runway, their size 0 figures concealed under layers of pleated fabrics.
Azria is crazy about dresses, particularly voluminous, pleated trapezes, occasionally anchored by belts. He’s also partial to long, flowing trumpet sleeves (a focal point on many runways), cocoon-like sweater coats and touches of shimmer, like an iridescent organza top or band of sequins at the neck. The overall effect is cozy and feminine, although weighed down by enough yards of jersey and merino wool to cover a king-size bed.
