leggings get the designer treatment for spring

November 6, 2008  9:28 am

Do you enjoy the same things as Lindsay Lohan? By which we mean, do you share the actress’ scandalous taste for leggings? If so, you’re in luck (click for slideshow). The familiar silhouette was reinvented on the Spring runways in cutout patterns at A.F. Vandevorst and Rodarte, and in a flurry of slashes at Meadham Kirchhoff and Rad Hourani. Other designers went print-mad, with bold stripes, graphic patterns, and painterly florals all making appearances. “Leggings have gone to another level; they’re not just for casual wear,” said Adi Gil of Threeasfour. “We’ve used prints that will encourage the wearer’s self-confidence and consciousness of her body.” In other words, these statement-makers require a starlet’s fearlessness. Here’s the evidence.

 

PARIS, October 4, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

Watching a show by Elie Saab, who built his reputation on the backs of Hollywood's glamour girls, the question is always the same: Can you picture a celebrity wearing that? More often than not this season the answer was not likely. The Easter-egg color palette—hydrangea blue, lavender, daffodil, and apple green—will be the first stumbling block. Other obstacles include the outsized ruffles, awkward proportions on what few day looks there were, and fabrics and construction that just didn't look like the best that money can buy. Another issue: a sky-high slit that exposed one model's undies. Come to think of it, that dress may have a certain appeal for some of our starlets.

The pieces that worked came unsurprisingly from the silvery-gray portion of the collection: a short dress embroidered all over in metallic paillettes and a long stretch knit dress with a deep décolleté. Thinking more along those lines will make Saab's collection relevant to the likes of Dita Von Teese and Milla Jovovich, both of whom sat in his front row.

PARIS, October 4, 2008

By Sarah Mower

How does it feel to be finally in charge at Chloé? "Oh, it's heaven!" exclaimed a tired but exhilarated Hannah MacGibbon, the 38-year-old blond British designer who assisted Phoebe Philo from 1997 through the label's red-hot early-noughties days. Her task is to heat it back up again after several tepid seasons and reconnect with that customer who would once spare no expense to get hold of Chloé's signature sexy-girly things, trophy bags, and shoes.

MacGibbon's scallop-edge coats, rounded-shoulder blouses, and high-waisted flared shorts, interspersed with ruffle-necklined dresses and jumpsuits with an eighties kind of gathered swell in the thigh region, certainly had an air of summery freshness about them. Her contrasts of chartreuse, beige, cream, bluebell, green, and a particular apricot (the exact shade that appears on Chloé packaging) were rinsed of any print and shorn of the embroidery that is a usual feature of the brand.

So was there evidence here that MacGibbon holds a key to the It-ness, the spontaneous, non-intellectual-girl knack that is central to Chloé? In this first outing, some signs were promising—one of the least weird jumpsuits on any runway (a dark green silk halter); a few great pairs of pants. The shoes, ankle-strapped flats and spindly high heels in mixed leather and shiny plastic (no platforms, hooray!), were the best pacesetters since the Chloé clog stomped out the door. And the color-blocked bags with gilt frames and chains had editors scribbling ticks and stars in their notebooks.

In this first collection, MacGibbon said she's aiming to "cleanse the palate" and de-complicate fashion for young women. That's going to take a while to evolve, and the designer must be given time to realign the brand identity amid our new set of economics, something Philo and she never had to worry about when they arrived at the house as twentysomethings. A bigger question is whether the company will see fit to steer Chloé back toward its origins as a prêt-à-porter label for seekers of fashion at accessible prices. At a time when "no expense spared" is fast becoming an anachronism, that would be smart

PARIS, September 30, 2008

By Sarah Mower

What is the future of black? That's the philosophical question Rei Kawakubo says she was pondering while designing her Spring collection. Since Comme des Garçons virtually invented black as the non-color of fashion in the eighties, that's probably a logical line of thinking for the woman whose original mind has such a widespread influence over generations of designers. Recent collections of hers have triggered outbreaks of bright, clashing, cartoonish color and multi-textured, perforated layerings that have been openly quoted by Marc Jacobs, and have trickled far down the fashion food chain.

But now Kawakubo is back to black, presenting it almost as a mathematical treatise in geometric volumes. Hexagonal cutting was the central motif, shaped into poufy geodesic tops and cocooning skirts. Using vinyl leather, she patchworked mini hoodies that looked almost like deconstructed soccer balls, and then started to add decoration: frilled edges on stiff plastic tectonic shoulder plates, transparent cellophane underskirts. By the end, a more organic feeling was breaking through: petaled tufts of tattered chiffon spreading over back-to-front jackets, and then whole dresses constructed like topiary. Underneath it all, there were wide shorts and regular trousers and flat lace-up shoes that offered a less experimental baseline for daily dressing. But did the collection end up answering Kawakubo's original question? That's something only she can know, and she's not one to spell out an insight. All that's certain is that she's set out yet another puzzle here that many designing eyes will be trying to figure out in seasons to come.

MILAN, September 25, 2008

By Sarah Mower

In a season when no one can really be sure how she'll feel about spending money six months hence, it would make sense that a label with a tried-and-trusted signature like MaxMara would smell their advantage and turn out the most convincing argument on Earth for believable classics. Instead, what transpired on the runway only served to raise bewildering questions. Will real women want viscose overalls in silky fabrics next spring? Will they see themselves in shirtdress-cum-rompers? Does a go-to-work pantsuit benefit from the addition of souped-up carpenter trousers? And does any of that improve when you've seen it repeated in four different colorways and fabrics? Who, really, is going to go for dungarees in white sequins?

A tremendous amount of goodwill exists toward MaxMara, and that should never be dismissed. The problem here is the frustration of seeing a great company miss its opportunity. It would almost have been preferable had a whole series of commercial suits and coats been trotted out—presumably that's what the MaxMara customer will really be buying come spring. What seemed to be going on—and there was plenty of time to diagnose it as yet another repeat garment passed by—was a misreading of what might actually pique the interest of the press. Fancied-up sportswear in however many swatch options just didn't do it this time.

MILAN, September 24, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

In a season when nudity is one of the big trends on the runways, it's ironic that Alessandro Dell'Acqua would play the modesty card at La Perla. Replacing the typically racier fare at today's show were tent dresses, peasant blouses, and flaring pants in a seventies-ish vein. "Easy, light, and fresh" were the words bandied about backstage. Not that there weren't lingerie details, but instead of being the main event, black lace was used as a layering piece over an emerald green dress. Broderie anglaise at the bottom of a trapeze coat looked positively sweet; the same goes for a ribbon lace vest and skirt. Other embellishments, like the gold sequins of a loose tank or the jewel-encrusted bodices of one-shoulder evening numbers, had more of a disco vibe. The problem was, nothing really separated this seventies revival from the countless others that have come before. You'd like to see La Perla capitalize on the technical fabrics and innovations of its lingerie business and apply them to a little black dress, say, or a pair of fitted pants—that would be more up-to-date.

MILAN, September 22, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

"This collection confirms a style that has changed the face of fashion," the program notes stated. That's not too bold of a claim when it comes from a designer like Giorgio Armani, the man who rethought the modern suit, then put his own sparklingly sinuous stamp on red-carpet wear. His Spring collection had both of those signatures in spades.

The show opened with elongated one-button jackets in traditional suiting fabrics. The ones that followed had a similar slight flare below the waist or a ruffle of pleats at the back, but they were made in fluid jerseys and shown with pleated and tapered silk pants, long shorts, or tucked-hem skirts. The wet-look hair and glistening makeup that was perhaps conceived to reinforce the show's breezy "Joy to Wear" message was too much of a good thing, but it was refreshing to see some big-name models on Armani's runway.

And speaking of big names, how fitting that Cate Blanchett was in the audience today: Armani has no better emissary for the sort of body-skimming beaded stunners in which he specializes. He sent out one-shoulder cocktail dresses and wispy chiffons in soft pastels, but they were just an opening act for his finale: a parade of beaded and embroidered long dresses that glimmered without veering into glitz. Had the timing been different, Jessica Stam's strapless number would certainly have surfaced on the red carpet at last night's

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.