LONDON, September 17, 2008

By Sarah Mower

Minimalist elegance is a concept that's slipped from view since the late nineties, but in London it's marching back. The standard bearer is Richard Nicoll, whose show re-energized the monochrome aesthetics of clean, sporty dressing by drenching it in great doses of color-blocked tangerine, cyclamen, nude, and aqua. Nicoll said he'd been influenced by early Helmut Lang and (not so obviously) the late fifties, but if he meant the ease of mid-century American sportswear it makes sense.

It was uplifting to watch a young designer find something new to say about the validity of T-shirt-and-pants dressing and think about simple but impactful combinations of separates. That might mean an oversize T-shirt top in blocks of nude organza and pink silk tucked into a long, slim cyclamen skirt, or a tank with a one-shoulder toga drape over narrow pants. It's not the easiest thing to make borderline bad-taste colors seem cool, but there was something in this collection that palpably moved the audience. Likely, it has to do with Nicoll's growing into himself and acquiring the confidence to let his Australian understanding of relaxed, hot-weather lifestyles come through. If so, it's an epiphany that may well connect him with underserved customers in warm climates all over the world. After all this, Nicoll ended his show with a surprise finale of his Richard Nicoll Shirt second line, which has quietly developed into a cute collection of cotton dresses and shorts. Impressive on all fronts.

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Fall Trend Report from the 2008 EDFF winners

September 17, 2008  5:03 pm

What mortgage meltdown? It was business as usual Tuesday afternoon on the fourth floor at Barneys. Call it the last hurrah—the feast before the famine. Actually, scratch that, call it L’Wren Scott. The leggy stylist-turned-designer hosted her first-ever trunk show for a cadre of dedicated and deep-pocketed fans, who, international economic crisis be damned, put some serious mileage on their charge cards. “I wanted to do this right after my show so the customers could have a chance to order the clothes straightaway,” Scott explained. On offer were staples like the Headmistress dress as well as diaphanous looks from the Spring collection, which was inspired by Zephyr, the Greek god of wind. “Everything has the spirit of movement to it,” the designer summed up. Speaking of movement, the 6′ 4″ Scott zipped between clients in a pair of Louboutin heels. “I’ve always said, if you’re going to be tall, why not be taller,” she shrugged of her footwear choice. “I mean, at this point it’s not making a big difference.”

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LONDON, September 16, 2008

By Sarah Mower

It takes a unique mind to watch Planet of the Apes and use it to start a fashion collection, but that's where Christopher Kane jumped off for Spring. He liked the apes' leather tunics. "It was that, and then The Flintstones, Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C., and then Dian Fossey and her gorillas," he said. And, like all little boys, Kane loved playing with toy dinosaurs. Hence, the stegosaurus shoes.

Even his sister Tammy was incredulous at first. "When he started saying 'prehistoric,' I said, 'What? I don't know what you're talking about.'" But then the pair started work, and what emerged was an obsession with scales, which somehow morphed into half-circle 3-D geometric cutting in organza or leather, and even a bit of menswear fabric. Then he worked in bright animal-spot "Flintstone" cashmeres (made at Johnstons in Kane's native Scotland), photo-prints of Digit the gorilla, and finally, some suggestive marabou trimming on chiffon—a late thought about Peter Bogdanovich's Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women for that special borderline-tacky touch that always puts the finishing stamp on a Christopher Kane collection.

Overall, it was a deft move forward for a young designer who needs to cement an identity and prove something more than an ability to come up with a novel idea each season. The circle cutting, which held echoes of Cardin or Capucci, looked young and modern—and provided a direct link to the giant paillettes Kane used last season. When the scallops stood out to frame a shoulder line or run up and down a pair of skinny pants, they looked head-turningly new, though when they turned into conceptual bundles, the wonder wore off. The sweaters continued his signature in a bright, accessible way, and the gorilla prints, though patched into two structured cotton dresses on the runway, will also be available as easy-to-wear and well-priced T-shirt dresses. Kane's still a designer who can hit fashion sideways with a new idea, but there are signs that he's beginning to think of how to turn what he has into a brand.