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Collette Dinnigan

PARIS, October 4, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

There was a little black dress midway through Collette Dinnigan's show that reminded people who've followed her career of the early days. The frock's peekaboo-lace back echoed the lingerie-inspired dresses with which she made her name in the nineties. It would've been a good look upon which to build her Spring collection. As it was, it was just a (welcome) blip among many other pleasant but less distinctive dresses, some densely embroidered in metallic paillettes or studs, others cut in a filmy white chiffon with a violet butterfly print. Military touches on jackets struck a timely note, but there wasn't enough here to distinguish the clothes from those found in the contemporary collections seen on the runways of New York. In fact, that might be a good venue for this commercially oriented designer.

PARIS, September 30, 2008

By Sarah Mower

Sophia Kokosalaki spent the summer on the island of Crete, and while there found herself thinking of Egypt. "It's not so far," she said. "I looked at ancient Egyptian costume, and there's something sixties in there you see in a lot of movies on Greek television. But, you know, it's always done in a young and ironic way." Oddly, Egyptian motifs have been cropping up on several runways this season. In Kokosalaki's case, as she promised, it wasn't exactly the full Tutankhamen deal. Mostly, it was done by allusion: a strong-shouldered jacket and A-line skirt derived from tomb paintings, the pattern on a khaki trench inspired by early hieroglyphics, and a color palette that included lapis lazuli and gold.

Nevertheless, there was a richness in this collection that Kokosalaki hasn't reached for before. She's always worked with leather, but this season she upgraded, patchworking burnished gold python into boleros, vests, and a top in which a single strap literally snaked across a shoulder like a cobra tail. That more detailed extravagance is a distinct step up and away from the dark, urban collections of the beginning of her career in London, but Kokosalaki is growing up now, reaching new markets and finding herself on the brink of the stage where she can develop her name further. That quiet progress was underlined by the jewelry visible in this collection: Snake-head slave bracelets, cuffs inset with semiprecious stones, and dangling gold earrings and diadems were the first sighting of her new line.

PARIS, September 30, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

Tao Kurihara has a very distinctive silhouette: Often it's a little jacket with a lot of action at the neckline and shoulders, worn with an abbreviated bottom like a poufy skirt. She doesn't so much change it each season as couch it within a new reference. For Spring, her point of departure seemed to be Scottish bagpipers' gear. But leave it to this protégé of Rei Kawakubo to keep plaids (too clichéd!) out of the equation.

The first model exited in a short, sheer royal-blue jacket with frogging and brass buttons over a long, narrow tee and tight breeches, a high, fuzzy busby hat topping it off with tasseled kneesocks and brogues below. Kurihara worked her way through many variations on that idea—some toppers double-breasted, others cutaway in back—with pants hovering above or below the knee, a few done in horizontal stripes. Then, putting aside the uniform concept for a moment, she showed a trio of shrunken button-front shirts in bright, girlish flower prints. There were cheerful pop blooms on sheer plissé kilts, as well as on sweeter versions of the opening look. This was one entirely original Highland fling.

September 29, 2008

September 29, 2008

September 29, 2008

PARIS, September 27, 2008

By Tim Blanks

No one could ever deny that Kris Van Assche sticks to his guns with his love of all things Latin American, but his fascination tends to be more intriguing than the fashion that results from it. This season, for instance, he was drawn to the chola, the Mexican gangbanger's moll. At least that was one interpretation of the black and midnight blue palette, the tank tops and baggy shorts (more boxer's shorts than boxer shorts), and the hard-edged styling touches like dark makeup and teardrop tattoos. But that toughness just came across as flat-out odd. Elsewhere, Van Assche honed his signatures: the floor-sweeping lengths, here in wrapped skirts, and the interplay of masculine and feminine elements, like a pinstriped jacket matched to a tiny skirt. A plain black pantsuit turned to reveal a waistcoat back to the jacket. Van Assche called his collection "Sang Bleu," presumably a reference to the blue blood of aristocracy, but "blue blood" also connotes anemia, and, indeed, there was something anemic about an entirely sheer slubbed-gauze gown. Ship it with a slip? Not likely.

MILAN, September 25, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

How to make your Charlie's Angels show stand out from the countless others that have come before? Hire supers Esther Cañadas, Fernanda Tavares, and Nadege to play Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina. The trio strutted out in long brown jersey dresses accented with topaz stones to surprised applause: Who were these grown women with real-life bodies? Cañadas' sultry swagger, in particular, received plenty of appreciative stares. If the Townsend Agency motif tempted Dan and Dean Caten to add some silly patent holster-harnesses to otherwise slinky floor-length dresses, they mostly resisted the urge to go kitsch. Instead, they focused on the all-American sportswear that they excel at, this time in a seventies mode. Among the strongest pieces were dark denim flares worn with crisp, checked oxford shirts and little leather bombers with maybe a silk scarf tied around the model's neck; a long, lean three-piece suit in Bianca Jagger white; and a floaty strapless gown with deep ruffles at the bust and hem. Of course, it wouldn't be Dsquared² without some skin, so there were also cutout swimsuits with gold chain details, but it didn't feel like the peep show that it sometimes has in the past. An oversize poncho and an enormous strapless bubble dress in duchesse satin were anomalies in what was one of Dsquared²'s most wearable collections in seasons.

MILAN, September 24, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

In the four seasons she's been showing on the Milan runways, Mina Lee's Derercuny has undergone a metamorphosis, shifting from smart tailoring with subtle, memorable details to full-on girly mode. The collection keeps skewing younger and younger. For Spring, thinking one part hippie, another part glam, she laid the embellishments on thick: There were mirrored sequins on chiffon waistcoats and white feathers peeking from beneath the hem of a tank dress. A pair of stretchy cream leather pants worn with a pale, floaty floral-print chiffon top was a key look; it's what a prep-schooler might wear to pose as a rock chick.

Apparently Lee's label is a favorite among retailers, but there wasn't a U.S. department store bigwig in sight at her 9 p.m. show. The buyers must view the collection in the showroom, which might not be a bad place for the rest of us to take it in, too. The clothes are sweet and pretty, but they're not making news.