December 8, 2009

pre-fall 2010: new york minute.

collections

the pre-fall collections started a little over a week ago, and as usual, designer focused on wear-now looks that women will be craving in late summer. even those that typically do completely unwearable (or at least unwearable if you aren’t erin wasson) on the runway, turned their eyes to the real woman. if only they would do that all the time…

here some of my favorites from the new york presentations:

alexander wang was all about black in varying textures including leather, knits, sheer and sequins. trousers came super skinny and were topped with sweater sleeve jackets, cropped blazers, sheer t-shirts and knit ponchos. i loved the tuxedo separates, like the white vest, leather waist ankle pants, and draped minidress (a short version of the one he did for resort). some of the styling is a bit unrealistic (shorts over skinny pants, mid-calf skirs?), but the individual pieces will work seamlessly in your wardrobe while giving it a bit of edge.

narciso rodriguez played with silhouette and proportion for pre-fall, using a focused palette of mainly red, black and grey with navy, camel and plum accents. rodriguez also stuck with silmness on the bottom with body hugging skirts and pants, but on top he showed sumptuous drape neck silk blouses, peplum jackets, or sequin funnel neck tops. don’t think that everything was so tight you’ll need spanx–there were also slouchy jumpsuits, popover dresses and coccoon coats that will flatter a variety of sizes.

after all that monochrome, it was refreshing to check out the carolina herrera collection. herrera’s inspiration, dancing figures from the twenties, showed up on prints of dresses, blouses and gowns. the crayola hues–yellow, cobalt, turquoise, tomato–worked wonderfully in solids (on satin ruched cocktail dresses, crewneck sweaters, colorblock evening coats) or in graphic dot prints, floral jacquards and woven ribbons on cocktail dresses and gowns (many came in one-shoulder incarnations). overall, it felt (and looked) like a party that you wanted to be invited to.

pics from style.com