COIFFED: Working backstage at Fashion Week is a resume- and experience-booster, so Denver stylist Matthew Morris was happy to do a show sponsored by Aveda. The Rodarte look was labor-intensive, he says. Models went through a process of having their hair slicked backed and to one side, braided, bound with string, styled into a chignon and then sprayed with a matte color, Morris said. “I felt sorry for them because it was so elaborate they’d have to shampoo it out afterwards.” Morris also worked at Phillip Lim’s show, where the designer decided to use wigs. Morris said it took him and a team of stylists hours to wrap the hair and secure it close to the models’ heads, and then apply, cut and style the wigs, all so they’d end up looking like 1960s model Peggy Moffitt. The highlight for him? “I did the hair for the lead singer of Lissy Trullie,” who performed live at the show.
BRAND NEWS: What’s shown on the runways here in many cases is as much brand building as it is about pushing any particular trends. With a new flagship Planet store opening in Manhattan on the same day as its show, Diesel is making a further push in the American market. And calling his line “quintessentially Fifth Avenue,” Tommy Hilfiger said in his program notes that the complete runway collection will be offered in its Fifth Avenue flagship store, scheduled to open this fall.
1909 VICTORINOX: No, it wasn’t a collection of Swiss army knives or luggage, but men’s clothes. The first for designer Pierre-Henri Mattout, the upscale menswear line gets its name from the year the company’s cross and shield logo were registered. Mattout said he was inspired by the way the Amish used to dress, which explains the plaid shirts with standup collars, suspenders, high waist pants and a muted color palette.
NEW GUY: Banana Republic introduced its creative director, Simon Kneen, during a meet-and-greet in its showroom. He previously worked as a design director for such companies as Brooks Brothers and Adrienne Vittadini. He also was head ready-to-wear designer for Maison Balmain.
Clothes with his influence have been in stores since late January. He said his focus was on California-infused palette that includes David Hockney-inspired blue, lemon, mint and orange in creating “easy, breezy” clothes with a “modern, sexy attitude.” New are eco-friendly designs made from such fabrics as soy silk, organic cotton and bamboo.
