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Calvin Klein, Hilfiger show at NY Fashion Week
2008-09-12
NEW YORK - How does a seemingly unusual trend -- to wit, harem pants -- end up on almost every runway at New York Fashion Week? Muzi.com News 10078691-0 (muzi.com)The spring previews, entering the home stretch on Thursday with runway shows from Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, brought together more than 100 designers. But the fashion world is a small one, after all. Muzi.com News 10078691-1 (muzi.com) For harem pants, the seed may lie across the Atlantic, where the look was reportedly worn by a very chic French editor. Fashion designers visit the same cities, see the same people, stay in the same hotels and see the same art exhibits. Muzi.com News 10078691-2 (muzi.com) "Fashion designers see someone like her and think they look cool," says Amy Astley, editor in chief of Teen Vogue. "Trends by their very nature aren't for everyone, but everyone likes to try them." Muzi.com News 10078691-3 (muzi.com) The trouble is, it'll be hard for anyone who is not a tall, slim French editor to pull off such draped, billowy pants. But that didn't stop anyone from Phi, showing Thursday, to Proenza Schouler, Miss Sixty, Betsy Johnson, Nicole Miller and Tahari from sending them down the runway. New York Fashion Week wraps up Friday. Muzi.com News 10078691-4 (muzi.com) CALVIN KLEIN Muzi.com News 10078691-5 (muzi.com) Architectural shapes, great coats and a lot of white: In the words of designer Francisco Costa, those are key elements of a classic Calvin Klein collection. Costa's spring collection was heavy on each. Muzi.com News 10078691-6 (muzi.com) This was the brand's 40th anniversary, drawing a crowd that included Tyra Banks and Eva Mendes, and the collection was more conceptual than Costa's previous work for the label. Muzi.com News 10078691-7 (muzi.com) Many silhouettes had the crisp, folded lines of origami, producing drama that surely would make great photographs. But some in the audience were left wondering how those looks would apply to the street -- or even if one could sit down in a dress with accordianlike bellows down the front and back. Muzi.com News 10078691-8 (muzi.com) There was no question about the chic suits, though, which were spare and sexy. The dresses, mostly in white mixed with some hues of blue, had bold, broad shoulders that exuded power, and the folds on some of the sleeves created the optical illusion of a separate jacket. Muzi.com News 10078691-9 (muzi.com) TOMMY HILFIGER Muzi.com News 10078691-10 (muzi.com) Tommy Hilfiger did for his spring collection what he does best, taking the trends that are coming out of New York Fashion Week and making them a little crisper, a little more casual -- a little more American. Muzi.com News 10078691-11 (muzi.com) A long, off-white silk gazar coat with a white tunic and black cuffed trousers or khaki jacket worn with a cotton tuxedo-style shirt might not break any new ground, but they have the easy silhouette and casual elegance that capture the look of the season. Muzi.com News 10078691-12 (muzi.com) Hilfiger offered great coats -- one a trench coat with a gold-chain belt and another navy cotton balmacaan overcoat, also with gold belt -- that were chic and looked like borderline dresses. Muzi.com News 10078691-13 (muzi.com) For men, the takeaway look was slightly shrunken suits, worn with no socks. Muzi.com News 10078691-14 (muzi.com) ZAC POSEN Muzi.com News 10078691-15 (muzi.com) Zac Posen is hard core when it comes to fashion. The spring collection he envisions included some dresses with an underlayer of Perspex, a type of acrylic plastic, creating a shell around the hips. Muzi.com News 10078691-16 (muzi.com) The opening look on the runway was one of these tight top and stiff skirt numbers, this one in a tangerine color and with elaborate beadwork. Muzi.com News 10078691-17 (muzi.com) Posen, however, also offered some softer, delicate looks that would be more wearable in real life. Among the styles more likely to hit stores next season were a pretty one-shouldered dress in marbled pistachio-green and a yellow poplin day dress with a handkerchief hem. Muzi.com News 10078691-18 (muzi.com) VERA WANG Muzi.com News 10078691-19 (muzi.com) Vera Wang's runway gleamed on Thursday, with mirrored-tile embellishment on stunning dresses and tops, as well as chunky beaded motorcycle belts and bib necklaces. Muzi.com News 10078691-20 (muzi.com) The spring collection mirrored some of the trends already spotted at New York Fashion Week -- easy silhouettes and a sultry use of sheer fabrics, among them -- but Wang also had a billowy vibe all her own. Muzi.com News 10078691-21 (muzi.com) A fashion-forward Hollywood star should skip the glamour-girl strapless gown at the upcoming Emmy Awards and go for one of Wang's chic slim long dresses made of two layers of charcoal and orange organza. Muzi.com News 10078691-22 (muzi.com) Wang also presented what could be the black dress of the season -- a T-shirt silhouette in silk and cotton that could be dressed up, dressed down or worn effortlessly on its own. Muzi.com News 10078691-23 (muzi.com) CYNTHIA ROWLEY Muzi.com News 10078691-24 (muzi.com) Against the backdrop of a giant clock, Cynthia Rowley presented clean geometric shapes and patterns. Muzi.com News 10078691-25 (muzi.com) The clothes and accessories were sporty and sexy, including tank dresses with color blocking, dresses with one sleeve and skirts, jackets with a shape cut out of the back. Muzi.com News 10078691-26 (muzi.com) The clock started when the first model walked out on the catwalk. Muzi.com News 10078691-27 (muzi.com) "The clock is a comment on the increase in the number of collections a designer creates each year, and the race to turn out those collections quickly and to produce new things," Rowley said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Muzi.com News 10078691-28 (muzi.com) REBECCA TAYLOR Muzi.com News 10078691-29 (muzi.com) Rebecca Taylor traveled back to the bohemian 1970s for her spring collection, sending floaty frocks and separates with bell sleeves, tiny ball trims and billowy silhouettes down the runway . Muzi.com News 10078691-30 (muzi.com) Models with long flowing hair slouched along in wooden-heeled perforated peeptoe booties. Some carried tan bags with long fringe, another nod to San Francisco's flower children. Muzi.com News 10078691-31 (muzi.com) The carefree bohemian feel marked a slight departure for Taylor, who specializes in pretty, girly frocks. This season, the Taylor girl isn't too high maintenance -- she'll tuck in her delicate embroidered blouse but leave it out and trailing over the back of a pale lavender button-front mini. Muzi.com News 10078691-32 (muzi.com) PHI Muzi.com News 10078691-33 (muzi.com) The cool girls just got a new black-tie uniform -- the tuxedo-inspired looks on the Phi runway. Muzi.com News 10078691-34 (muzi.com) A particularly chic outfit was a loose, ivory-colored satin dinner jacket with a shawl lapel that was paired with a shirred jodhpur pant. That pant, with its draped legs and tight, tapered ankles seemed to be the Phi substitute for the ubiquitous harem-pant silhouette. Muzi.com News 10078691-35 (muzi.com) Melbostad also offered a less severe pant called the "shalvar," which can be traced to the 16th century Ottomans, as well as a draped, skinny-leg pant. Fashionistas, it's time to tone those legs. Muzi.com News 10078691-36 (muzi.com) J. MENDEL Muzi.com News 10078691-37 (muzi.com) Stylists were gown-shopping for celebrity clients at Thursday's presentation by J. Mendel -- and they found several candidates for the red carpet at the upcoming Emmy Awards. Muzi.com News 10078691-38 (muzi.com) Stylists Mary Alice Stephenson and Rachel Zoe joked that they were fighting over an electric blue silk chiffon gown with a crystal chain. Stephenson also envisioned an actress in a one-shoulder, cream-colored draped gown with a delicate gold-bead belt and a lace inset on the back. Muzi.com News 10078691-39 (muzi.com)
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