As simple as it may be, Vera Wang’s coupling of thick, utilitarian outerwear with super-thin skirts and dresses, each one a masterful buildup of French accordion pleats, worked beautifully and powerfully. While the show’s said theme–American women whose style that intrigued the English aristocracy in the 1930s–was difficult to grasp, Wang’s toughness came through loud … Continue reading “Vera Wang Fall 2011”

A love of the Great American Plains inspired Kate & Laura Mulleavy’s fall collection, a great ode to poetic expression that was dreamy and ethereal. It was seen through the eyes at golden dusk, of a natural light to tell the landscape. Those stalks of tall corn, in a sense, came in the form of … Continue reading “Rodarte Fall 2011”

Set at the iconic New York Public Library, Thom Browne’s fall women’s collection–his first proper women’s show–demanded silence. Browne turned one of the library’s rooms into a church with a convent’s worth of models dressed like nuns. Marching in to “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria,” they were covered up in floorlength nunnery … Continue reading “Thom Browne Fall 2011”

Proving that appearances can be deceiving, Marc Jacobs delivered a fall collection that cast a rigid reaction to what he described as too much “easy breezy” fashion, but done in his trademark whimsical manner. The massive tufted white patent columns on his runway hinted at the slight overture to dominatrix in the collection, which, when … Continue reading “Marc Jacobs Fall 2011”

Olivier Theyskens has traveled quite the journey since his first Nina Ricci show at the Tuileries in Paris. Fast forward to current times and the world is a completely different place. Theyskens is now the creative head at Theory and, in his first-ever Theyskens’ Theory runway debut, delivered an “affordable” collection that evoked his years … Continue reading “Theyskens’ Theory Fall 2011”