A Fun, Satisfying Finish to New York Fashion Week

Though there was some turbidity, creatively this was the kind of New York Fashion Week that grew on you. Designers focused on what could please the broadest possible audience while injecting some personality into their offerings.

From an insider perspective, working fashion people did not like tearing around town to see collections. They had plenty to say about who showed in Brooklyn and corners of Manhattan. Where will they think of next? Staten Island? With time short and pressures high (editors are being asked to take on ever more responsibilities while AI threatens to replace them), it’s impossible to get from one venue to another miles away. Car prices are exorbitant. You get in a cab and before it even moves you’ve spent $1000.

And when four designers showed in the same slot, we have a problem. It’s tough on the retailers, journalists, bloggers, and other folks trying to see or support designers. It’s disappointing for the designers spending resources to promote their work. The general mood seemed to be that the new Starrett-Lehigh Building is an improvement over Spring Studios with its inconvenient location, inadequate elevators, and cramped venue sizes. 

No doubt these are matters that Thom Browne, chairman of the Council of Fashion designers of America, will look into. But before that, the ringmaster and impresario had his own show to attend to — one that closed the week out with a fine flourish.

Browne clearly loves a good story and understands the power of a rich narrative. This time he chose the story of a lost love made worse by a badgering black bird in Edgar Allen Poe’s iconic poem “The Raven.”

HBO’s Gilded Age star Carrie Coon narrated the poem as models emerged onto a stark white theatrical setting mimicking snow, in a collection that was a study in black and white. There were several arresting pieces: a white coat with black raven print; a smart black jacket with several rows of multi-breasted buttons over a skirt with its own lined up row of buttons.

A series of ballooning skirts represented Browne’s penchant for serendipity. With Browne, it’s hard to tell when clothes are meant to be serious or meant to be tongue-in-cheek. What never is in question is the impeccable quality of the pieces.

At Carolina Herrera, Wes Gordon must have had the lady of the house herself in mind as a beauty inspiration. Models with bold, red lips, slicked back hair and flawless skin looked like doppelgangers of the founder in her youth.

One emerged in a fire-red turtleneck with operatic black pants, a leg obscured by a gigantic ruffle down the side. Gordon paired a white shirt with a skirt of tiered ruffles, a perfect look for the ballet or at-home entertaining. The push and pull of caution versus letting it rip was evident.

An ankle-length coat in white with gold buttons crackled with orthodoxy; in contrast a glorious floor- length, floral style had huge layers ballooning on the shoulders. Pointed red pumps underlined the collection’s mood of controlled glamor.

Red continues its run as the new bright to have in your wardrobe (though the new “peach fuzz” and chartreuse gave chase). Zang Toi used the hue in a signature print as well as in solids presented in perky shorts suits and worldly knit dresses. And capes are not just for superheroes.

As guests like Muffie Potter Aston, Carol Alt, Irina Dvorovenko, Kelly Bensimon, and singer Crystal Waters looked on, Toi unleashed a bold rose-print blouse, romantic dresses and a red zippered leather jacket.

Feminine suits cropped up in almost every collection and Frederick Anderson made an inspired choice creating a suit with easy pants and a soft scarf tie at the neckline.

Anderson captured the wonderful obsession with sheerness with delicately beaded dresses in black tulle or lace, designers seem more mindful that you can show sheer the way a woman might really wear it in real life.

In his Manhattan penthouse, literally and figuratively above the din of show week, Ralph Rucci presented his made-to-order collection which had a bunch of sheer. With just a few samples of the handiwork, such as a blouse covered in pin tucks, he presented the collection in color illustrations with descriptions, fabric swatches and fabric techniques.

“I wish I could make these clothes,” said Rucci. But like many designers he’s needed to play it cautiously, financially. Furthermore, a Chado Ralph Rucci sample is not $500. It’s not even $5,000 (remember he was the first American in 60 years to be invited to show haute couture by the Chambre Syndicale in Paris). The price of luxury goods has shot up 17-55% in the past few years, studies show,  depending on if we’re talking about a handbag or a t-shirt.

He showed a white pique Elsa shirt (so named because he made several of the one style for Elsa Peretti, he said); the suspension dress or blouse by which hundreds of pieces of fabric are cut and then sewn together; and a jacket over a gown made with feathers and sequins trapped between two layers of tulle.

I loved the idea of a water repellant rain suit made with silk faille. The collection comprises 32 looks including the finale wedding dress available using Rucci’s signature knotted technique.