Hervé Léger: Fall 2009

Max Azria apparently picked a winner when he bought Hervé Léger in 1998. Wearing one of the house's bandage dresses has become a rite of passage for young actresses—like Joy Bryant, January Jones, and Michelle Trachtenberg, who attracted the paparazzi to today's show. That's some ROI (return on investment).Azria and his wife, Lubov, aren't trying to refashion the house; they've stuck by that bankable dress, which means the show is mostly about novel embellishments. For Fall the designers wanted to move to "the beat of an urban tribe," so they chose a muted Saharan palette and successfully played with texture through weaving and insets of exotic skins. The Azrias also experimented with the built-out shoulder this season. That created an interesting contrast to the hourglass silhouette, but also unavoidably recalled Balmain's Spring 2009 "Frankenstein" look. More original was a soft chiffon snakeskin-print dress with center-front braiding detail, and a knockout crystal-beaded number worn by Anna Selezneva, which deserved the applause the starlets gave it.





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Marc Jacobs: Fall 2009/2010

Leave it to Marc Jacobs to deliver a neon-hued, big-shouldered, crimpy-haired eighties antidote to the gloom and doom of 2009. "I was thinking about the good old days in New York," he said after the show, "when getting dressed up was such a joy." By the good old days, Jacobs means the nights he spent at clubs like Area, the Palladium, and Paradise Garage. Maybe it was the recent Stephen Sprouse project he completed at Louis Vuitton, or perhaps it's the fact that he now lives in Paris full time, but his Fall show was a big, juicy nostalgic kiss to a city that doesn't really exist anymore.
The show started simply enough, with a gray cardigan sweater and charcoal trousers, but when the model walked past, you saw the back half of a kilt and braces—Jacobs' new uniform—and knew it was going to get personal. He worked his way through little silver-and-black A-line shifts; party dresses in metallic leathers and floral brocades with flaring, full skirts and monster shoulders; velvet bustier tops and high-waisted over-dyed jeans; and Crayola-bright jackets, capes, and hooded coats. The only filter that separated these clothes from their East Village forebears was the expensive, luxury fabrics they came in. Every girl had a different hairdo, shellacked into Mohawks, flips, and bouffants, and the makeup was straight off the album cover of Duran Duran's Rio. The cumulative effect of all that color, volume, and optimism? One editor called it "A Flock of Seagulls meets Alexis Carrington."
Will fashion as outrageously ebullient as this—in some cases, make that just plain outrageous—sell in the harsh reality of the late aughts? (And talking about harsh: More than 1,000 people were nixed from the invitation list this season in a cost-cutting slash and burn.) Jacobs insists that he wasn't thinking about the economy when he was working on the collection, and maybe he wasn't. These days, wagering that women will splash out on feel-good clothes is as good a bet as any.

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Chanel: Fall 2009/2010

In a season when coat-dresses and skirtsuits have risen to somewhere near the top of the item charts, Chanel presented a series of fashion's most poised and charming versions. That formula transmitted some of the loveliness of Karl Lagerfeld's sublime origami-paper Spring Couture collection into super-feminine white collar and cuff treatments—frothy plissé ruffs, chiffon camellias, and French maid frills encircled the neck or sleeves on soft, fitted black silhouettes. Cleverly, today's outing also achieved a rare balance between being grown-up and youthful—a note set by the casting of Karen Elson to open the show. Here was a fabulous-looking 30-year-old woman, rather than some anonymous waif.
Lagerfeld tagged the collection "Belle Brummell," a gender-reassigned quip referring to the British Regency dandy who dictated men's fashion by tying his cravats in ever more elaborate configurations. The pun also gave full permission to bring the classic Chanel white georgette blouse into play, a perfect device for subtracting the austerity from black in a distinctly Rue Cambon manner. Lagerfeld worked it every which way, in bouclé, lace, knit, satin, and paillettes, while also making a witty swerve in the direction of the season's motorcycle leathers (interpreted here in slim drop-waist dresses) and puffer jackets.
What color there was turned up in brief passages of pale green or baby pink. Admittedly, that green wasn't the most felicitous shade in the palette for clothing, but it was really there to underline the presence of the jade Deco-style pendants and neckpieces—a further echo of which could be found in the jade rings implanted in several pairs of heels. All in all, though, this wasn't one of Chanel's more playful simultaneous broadcasts to the world—more a serious reinforcement of the brand's eternal attractions.







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Dsquared²: Fall 2009/2010

The Dsquared² girls strutted down the catwalk clutching Starbucks venti lattes and Mochaccinos and toting Us Weeklys in their big leather It bags. Jourdan Dunn checked her BlackBerry, peering over the rims of her retro shades, while another model sucked on a cigarette. Show tunes and hair bands vied on the soundtrack. In case it's not clear by now, this collection was all about the high-low mix: T-shirts, preppy pastel button-downs, and boyfriend jeans topped off with a snug washed leather jacket and a trucker hat; a pair of tank tops tucked into a mini made from a Chanel-ish plaid bouclé; or a faded denim jacket tossed on over a black jersey gown with crystal straps. Nearly every look was accessorized with knit caps, sunglasses, and bling.
Olsen-twins chic is nothing new, of course. It was a while ago that Vogue Italia published a Steven Meisel shoot reproducing paparazzi-style, gossip-rag shots of Mary-Kate, Ashley, and their young Hollywood cohorts—the only difference being that the models were about a foot taller than the celebrities they played. Still, it was a clever bit of fun for Dean and Dan Caten, who, probably not uncoincidentally, just landed a gig designing concert clothes for Britney Spears' upcoming comeback tour (her 15th by our count). The former teen queen—the Catens' program notes spoke of girls interrupted—could really rock the T-shirt dress and crystal-encrusted shirred chiffon jacket Catherine McNeil wore. The funny thing is, this was one of Dsquared²'s most wholesome shows in memory—and none the worse for that.

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Chloé: Fall 2009/2010

Chloé has been struggling to get its mojo back since Phoebe Philo departed, which is rather a long time ago now. After several swift turns of the revolving door in the design studio, Hannah MacGibbon is now at the desk, and after a somewhat rushed and skimpy debut last season, she's showing signs of getting a grip. What came out for Fall was a soft version of the early eighties, all big blanket coats, high-waisted fluid pants, wrapped belts, and, for evening, a much-needed dose of the easy glamour Chloé has been missing.
MacGibbon said she'd found her bearings by looking at illustrations by Antonio Lopez. For day, she passed through khaki, beige, and loden coatings, pleated pants, and suede shorts (she's a girl who loves them), supplying enough realistic pieces to give buyers something to go on. But it was the eveningwear that took off. Her dark green velvet pants cuffed with crystal and the slouchy black velvet overalls hit a nice semi-casual note for girls who have the confidence to walk into a party in flats (albeit pretty special ones, with bows and sparkle attached). As MacGibbon notched up the formality with a one-shouldered black velvet jumpsuit with a drapey wide-hip, narrow-ankle silhouette bound with a satin cummerbund, she was hitting a spot that evoked something of Saint Laurent. There were probably too many drifty, semi-sheer dresses, but generally, this show put Chloé back on a firmer footing, especially in the footwear department. A pair of frill-cuffed, dark green suede, thigh-high pirate boots just have it in them to cause a Chloé It-object sensation, just like the old days.
Chloé ha estado luchando para recuperar su estilo mojo desde la partida de Phoebe Philo hace ya algún tiempo. Luego de que varios diseñadores hayan pasado por el estudio de diseño de la marca, finalmente Hannah MacGibbon se encuentra ahora en el escritorio, y después de un apurado y no muy buen debut de la temporada pasada, está mostrando signos de retomar aquel estilo caracteristico de la marca.

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Dolce & Gabbana: Fall 2009/2010

No wonder Dolce & Gabbana are in love with Elsa Schiaparelli for Fall. She was an original proponent of the ballooning shoulder (the fashion story of the season), worked her surrealist glamour through tough and weird times, and was an Italian to boot. In an edgy moment, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana used her example to defy all fashion nervousness and lay on a sumptuous show whose production values gave no quarter to the idea that cutbacks and timidity should be the order of the day. Quite the opposite, in fact. The front row was positively teeming with A-listers: Scarlett Johansson, Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Freida Pinto, Eva Mendes, and others who had all flown in to view the clothes, and then take in the Extreme Beauty in Vogue exhibition opening that the designers have underwritten at the Palazzo della Ragione.
The thirties and forties references played through the displaced gloves used as headpieces and scarves, the shell-shaped buttons, the clunky wartime suede platform wedges, the homages to Schiap's shocking pink, and, of course, those huge, puffed-up leg-of-mutton sleeves, rising up in some cases to earlobe level. The spending on luxe materials and a cinematic level of beauty never ceased. Fox, dyed goat hair, mink, and rich brocades were worked into narrow-waisted silhouettes, alternating—though not much—with bell-shaped skirts.
It might have been a one-message show, but as is always the case with these superconfident designers, there was never any surrender of house identity. Dolce & Gabbana-isms were wittily reiterated when their signature Sicilian corseted and see-through lingerie dresses reappeared, Schiap-shaped, counterpointed by black tuxedo suits. Finally, their traditional ending parade of exaggerated crinolines shifted the look completely to their own territory, with Monroe photo prints spreading over the skirts. Times may be tough, but these are two guys who are not about to give an inch on what they believe in.

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Emilio Pucci: Fall 2009/2010

Peter Dundas is the new man at Emilio Pucci, charged with making the iconic Florence-based label and its famous prints relevant for a new generation. The Norwegian designer, who also helms the French fur house Revillon, is perhaps best known for his stint at Emanuel Ungaro. There he made fans of the young Hollywood crowd with his body-conscious, boldly colorful sensibility (did we mention he once worked for Roberto Cavalli?). Today's debut collection for Pucci was very much in that sexy spirit.
The show opened with canvas military coats and jackets lined lavishly in fox fur, worn with short dresses and over-the-knee suede pirate boots or second-skin python pants. They signaled the low-high mix that defined Dundas' approach to the season. The designer carried it through even into evening, where a strapless minidress was patchworked together from faded denim and guipure lace in a swirling pattern that subtly evoked one of the house's prints.
The lack of overt Pucci references—the kind that dependably evoke the label's Capri-in-the-sixties origins—was striking. But the prints Dundas did resurrect (from a 1957 collection dubbed "Palio" after Siena's centuries-old horse race) looked fresh on slouchy cashmere long-sleeved T-shirts worn with supertight back-zip jeans. With friends like the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit, sitting in his front row, Dundas is well positioned to observe the changing lifestyles of the international jet set. Keying into the fact that these days young aristos want to look like rock stars appears to have given him a way to make Pucci timely again.

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Bottega Veneta: Fall 2009

Tomas Maier's remedy for breaking the downward spiral of depression is irresistible glamour. "With all that's going on, I just switched off the TV news and thought about designing appetizing clothes to make women feel pretty and attractive," he said before the show. "Let's get out of this!" That rallying cry made for possibly his most resolved and beautiful collection yet—gently done, yet spiked with a new undercurrent of eroticism.

It began with simple rectangles of cloth—folded into ivory envelope coats or pieced into fluid charmeuse dresses—and then built momentum through perfectly cut sheaths. One number—essentially a single square of black wool with armholes, wrapped to fall in a ruffle in the front while dipping asymmetrically over the shoulder—looked as if it had been wound around Sasha Pivovarova almost spontaneously. Of course, there's more than spareness of cut going on here. The desirabilty is in Maier's fabrics, some of which are so refined even the camera can't pick up the nuances. The second look out—a cream coat over a strapless dress—passed within inches of the noses of the audience, but who knew the coat was covered with a fine layer of organza, or realized the dress was not a matte cotton canvas but leather? Only the woman who wore it, or someone close enough to stroke her. Which is Bottega Veneta's not-for-public-consumption code in a nutshell.

And yet: This is a time when even the stealthily wealthy need an extra push to open their finely crafted intrecciato crocodile purses. That's where drop-dead sex and glamour step in. Lingerie corseting built into the rib section of covered-up jersey dresses, outlining braless breasts, did that in an outrageously classy way. And then came a sequence of pleated goddess dresses, catching the air as the girls swept past. They were superb.