| London calling at NY Fashion Week |
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| Written by Associated Press |
| Sunday, 07 September 2008 18:00 |
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NEW YORK (AP) - Designers at New York Fashion week heard London calling - from 1975. The looks of the London youth movement in the years when mod morphed into punk dominated runways Saturday in the second day of spring previews. Short skirts and tight pants kept the skinny profile fresh, paired with - what else? - edgy black. Charlotte Ronson played on the theme to a crowd that included Lindsay Lohan in a denim corset dress with bright blue pumps. Rag & Bone designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville were taken with the era after watching the Anton Corbijn film "Control" about the British band Joy Division. Their collection Friday wasn't the only one inspired by the era's nonconformity, and the Fashion Rock concert featured a tribute to punk led by Fergie. The look was in contrast to another emerging trend at the Bryant Park tents: easy, vacation-bound elegance. New York Fashion Week runs through Sept. 12, with more than 100 shows over eight days. Rock & Republic sees next spring's styles in black and white - with nothing in between. Saturday's runway presentation was all about micro minis or long and lean pants, with nary a color in sight. For a brand that made its name in denim, the emphasis was on formfitting dresses, all but a handful of which were barely long enough to cover the models' undergarments. One black dress with all-over ruching actually looked more like a retro-style bathing suit. Still, some of the emerging spring trends were represented, including one-shoulder tops, zipper details and skinny jeans that pooled around the ankles, draping around towering platform heels. And the only thing skinnier than the legs on the guys' jeans were the ties. There was something for the nice girl - as well as something for the naughty one - on the Abaete catwalk. Designer Laura Poretzky described her spring collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week as the "dichotomy of the two sides of a woman." A cute chambray sundress with a ruffled front and petticoat underneath shared the runway with skintight bodysuits with mesh side panels. Abaete also furthered some trends that appear to be on the horizon: corset-style dresses, one-shoulder tops and killer gladiator platform sandals. Poretzky's version, which will be available at Payless, had a zipper on the back of the ankle to give a hard-rock edge to the shoe. Her muse wears everything from mod dresses with contrasts of black and white with pops of bright sorbet colors, to flirty shirred skirts that barely reached the middle of the thigh. With two celebrity DJ siblings (including Lohan gal pal Samantha), Charlotte Ronson knows the club crowd. With her spring fashion collection, she showed she can dress them too. There was a hint of irony in many of the outfits, such as a gingham print gone sexy thanks to a sheer fabric and a knit bustier top paired with skinny-leg sweatpants. And almost all the looks were worn with fishnet socks and platform shoes with towering heels. But even with those young urban looks, Ronson proved she could court a more sophisticated customer with a corset-style dress in a subtle cheetah-print pique fabric and a feminine ruffle-front frock in a floral pattern that blended coral, lavender and brown. Ronson also showed a knack for knits, including a sweater dress in teal and blush pink with cutout shoulders. |
