Pre-Ramble: With New York Fashion Week behind us, it is only fitting for a design conscious blog to look back and recap some highlights. Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum and Michael Kors could be seen ring-side as collections of every stripe pranced by – floofy dresses, structured trench coats, floppy hats, geometric handbags and strappy calfskin booties from designers like Donna Karan, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta and Chanel. 

Cathy Horyn gives a review in the New York Times titled, A Sputter Here, a Spark There. I’m guessing this means that she thought some of the designers presented winning collections, while others, not so much.

As with other mediums of design – industrial design, graphic design, architecture – innovative fashion design walks the fine line between creativity (wow, that’s so edgy and cool) and commercial appeal (will a twenty-something in Iowa buy that?). This season, influential designers shredded and draped their way around the latest synthetic/organic fabrics to bring us “tribal gothic” and “young, fun, disheveled.” Apparently, the function and value of all of this lies deep in the human psyche, reflecting both the aspirational style of the wearer, as well as the essence of the cultural zeitgiest.

Frankly, whether it’s stars or stripes, … Armani or Mizrahi, … bohemian tie-dye or gold-studded leather… the runway scenario continues to mystify me. It’s not that I don’t appreciate all the inspiration, invention and craftsmanship that go into creating a high-fashion garment – I totally do.  And, it’s not that I don’t want to be stylish – I desperately do. It’s just that I repel fashion. I may as well be wearing an invisibility cloak. I’m able to manage a limited assortment of neutrals (black, white and gray), but try to add a “little color” and I feel like I’m popping out of a tiny car with floppy red shoes and a squirting lapel flower.

To that point, no discussion of recent runway trends would be complete without mention of the new leggy creatures strutting their stuff at this year’s Minnesota State Fair. Talk about animal print — Conan O’Brian’s white chocolate bust (with bacon hair) can’t hold a candle to what was going on in the livestock tent this season. Llamas, those long-necked pack animals from the highlands of Peru, ditched their trekking gear and donned “accessible American classics” for the fair’s annual 4-H Llama Costume Contest.  Lucky you – here’s a front row seat for the show:

The Take-Away:  Clearly, it’s all about attitude.  Models, and the designers who adorn them, must have a certain inborn sensibility, a panache, a plucky stance that tells the world that they – flashing the eau current fashion P.O.V. – are so all that.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS