Betsey Makes Us Smile :Betsey Johnson’s return to the runway, after two years, was well worth the wait. The show opened with model thin, Kelly Osbourne, who strutted down a hay scattered runway with two bright green toy guns in hand; can you say Wild Wild West. Johnson’s inspiration this season was 45 years worth of her own archives. "I’m working on my stuff, being very true-blue Betsey," she said. The final look at the show was a dedication to the late designer Alexander McQueen. A model, adorned with enlarged red wax lips walked down the runway with a small bouquet of red roses and a sign that said, "LONG LIVE MCQUEEN!"
Buy Straight Off the Runway: Proenza Schouler designer’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are exclusively selling their runway bags on their website, proenzaschouler.com, 24 hours after their F/W 2010 collection on Wednesday, Feb 17 at Milk Studios. Online shoppers can preorder the fall handbags straight from the runway through the recently introduced e-commerce on the site.
Unisex Clothing: Androgyny was the theme for Rad Hourani’s F/W 2010 collection. The show included both the male and female models dressed in tights, high heels, bike shorts, and layers of black. The coats had multiple compartments and zippers, so one piece could transform into several different shapes. "Unisex is my main focus," Hourani told NY Times. "All my pieces are unisex so you can wear it feminine, masculine, a guy can wear it, a girl can wear it, at any age, anytime, anywhere…I don’t like to put limits to gender," the Canadian-born designer explained. "I think everybody is feminine, and everybody is born unisex."
Keeping Your Hands Warm: Gloves are perhaps one of the must-have accessories this season, so choosing the right pair can make all the difference. They commanded lots of attention on the runways, each uniquely designed, with new variations of textures, fabrics, and colors. Donna Karan’s long pair featured flower-shape cutouts that created a lacy-leather effect. Chris Benz designed eye-catching lime-green furry mitts. And Carolina Herrera’s just below the elbow gloves wove apple-red patent leather and suede together.
A Return to Elegance: Carolina Herrera, one of the most elegantly dressed designers in fashion, delivered a charming and glamorous collection fit for a lady. The clothes were an outright presentation of pure luxury, with fur trim, voluminous sleeves, and wide-leg silk pants. She impressed the critics right down to Cathy Horyn of the New York Times who wrote she “seemed to put more of herself into the clothes,” including a dress printed in tiny reproductions of a family photo. WWD added, “The embrace of opulence felt oddly comforting.” Everyone seemed to appreciate the designer’s return to elegance.
Feeling the Cut Backs: After throwing one of the most lavish runway shows last season adorned with five grand pianos lining the runway, Zac Posen cuts back substantially for his latest collection. As recession woes hit designers, especially small companies like Posen, it’s sad to see how they have to hold back creatively. The collection was far removed from Posen’s usual obsession with ball skirts and gowns, but in their absence, he focused on sportswear for the season. The collection was a combination of pantsuits with a forties flair, luxe coats to brightly colored separates, stacked Plexiglas bangles and pom pom peppered shoes, which all worked together to deliver something cohesive and vibrant. Keeping his core customer in mind, Posen maintained high and sexy hemlines, yet provided something for the conservative set in straight-legged satin pants and mandarin collar jackets.
The Devil Really Does Wear Prada: Former Vogue cover girl, Paulina Porizkova, seeks revenge in a Huffington Post blog after she gets snubbed by Anna Wintour in the ladies’ room at a recent AmFAR benefit. Porizkova writes: "I walked in and almost straight into Anna Wintour.’Hi, Anna,’ I said brightly to Anna’s mirror reflection. Her large eyes in her large head flickered. And with the slightest nod, one that may have been a twitch, she left me standing at the sinks. I admit I felt a bit more than slighted, I was after all, on quite a few covers of her magazine, and the glance she gave me is one I’d give to an expired carton of milk. I am aware my expiration date (as a model) is long past, but a slight acknowledgment that I wasn’t the bathroom attendant would have been nice."
Jacobs Pleases the Crowd: To start the F/W 2010 show, Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy appeared on opposite corners and ripped away brown paper covering a simple wood stage at the end of the runway, revealing a tableau of 56 models elegantly dressed in a palette of soft neutral colors, pale pastels and demure shapes. Heightened by Frederic Sanchez’s soundtrack, covers of “Over the Rainbow” blared out the speakers as the first girl took to the runway in a gray sweatshirt with a crisscrossed back, tweedy gray culottes and ankle socks. To those familiar with the designer’s early work, it all seemed to be a case of déjà vu. The collection was 180 degrees removed from last fall’s wild Eighties theme but the design process remained constant. “Everything is a celebration of something, whether it’s beige or Day-Glo yellow,” Jacobs said. “It doesn’t have to be a thing. You can make a thing out of anything you’re passionate about.”
Victoria Beckham Charms Them: In an intimate presentation for about 20-30 people, at the grand Upper East Side room, Victoria Beckham had quite a posh affair. With an audience that included Carine Roitfeld, Nina Garcia and Karl Lagerfeld, you have a room filled with fashions most respected. Victoria Beckham’s Dick Tracy-inspired fall collection charmed the critics, not to mention her personal greetings and look-by-look narration. British Vogue called it “a very beautiful collection that evolved her body con aesthetic,” and Style.com declared that “there wasn’t one bad dress in the bunch.” Most critics noted the evolution of Beckham’s designs, admiring a “newfound focus on draping and fluidly.”
