After countless clicks to style.com, far too much coffee and enough gasps to last me a lifetime, I have finally narrowed down the crème de le crème of Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week.
The infamous reputation of the city and its eclectic direction of fashion was even more evident at this year’s event. There was no real prominent trend movement at the Autumn/Winter showings, rather a unanimous direction in style. The fall collections usually invite a preempted expectation of dark tones, layering, outerwear and texture but this year, the traditional elements of fall were reinvented.
Bursts of fluorescents interrupted a plethora of black, while earthy tones and pale pastels were the most prominent choice of colour this season. Perhaps inspired by his buddies at couture, there was no shortage of fluorescents at Oscar de la Renta, with a new-found youthfulness brought to his latest collection. Brazilian born Carlos Miele sent colour-blocked designs down the runway that were bursting with brights, while front rowers were equally bursting with a bad case of ‘who gets to wear what first’. Earthy tones were done best by Michael Kors with cashmere sweaters, lavish coats and flannel turned luxe in shades of tan, caramel and desert. We also saw the tonal calm at 3.1 Phillip Lim, DKNY and Rodarte who were inspired by their Mexican roots.
Outerwear is known as the key element of fall design and this year’s designers without doubt, nailed the trend. Only his third collection in, Joseph Altuzarra brought out the fierce in feminine with commanding coats and leather jacks trimmed with goat fur, destroying any lingering sense of newcomer from the runway. Marc Jacobs showed us sumptuous wools while Donna Karan celebrated 25 years of success with a collection of signature styles. Cocoon coats and jackets that were printed with lynx fur were stomped down the runway, while a cashmere-wool cardigan continued her legendary play on texture. Alexander Wang made the chop with cropped jackets and overwhelming tan coats with slits down the side. At Oscar de la Renta double-breasted coats circa 1980 were trimmed with fur and luxurious embroideries, proof enough as to why he is regarded as one of the industry’s design elite. Michael Kors did although steal the show with an array of gasp-worthy pieces including a shredded silver-fox anorak. As if opening the show with Abbey-lee wearing a giant coyote vest wasn’t enough.
Architectural construction and sharp tailoring was another key trend seen across the board. Design genius Max Azria presented a collection for Herve Leger that will be on the lips and hips of the voguettes for years. At Cushnie et Ochs and Yigal Azroue applaudable tailoring that focused on straighter lines and sharper silhouettes was the most prominent direction seen throughout the shows.
In a season constructed from a foundation of minimalism it was surprising to note the amount of quirky and fantastical prints used by designers. Proenza Schouler delivered a collection faithful to its edgy innocence with high-waisted skinny jeans vandalized with graffiti and dresses defaced with blurred, distorted prints. Anna Sui focused her fabrics on the American arts movement while Jeremy Scott didn’t disappoint with pin-up girls, targets and yellow road signs being just some of the prints chosen for his fall collection.
Calmer tones with fluorescent bursts, outerwear, prints and a focus on tailoring and construction were this fall’s defining trends. So, with another week of collection debut’s and editor’s claiming their territory over, Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week 2010 has come to a close. It’s a wrap!
Words: Leni Andronicos
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