Day five of New York Fashion week commenced, and several designers proved
that sticking to the arena of your strengths is where you will find the
greatest success.
Lela Rose presented her stellar collection afternoon. Her aesthetic could
be described as “former Princeton graduate, who now has a very lucrative
career in a field like finance or corporate retail, and is very into
fashion.” Rose’s aesthetic is very understated, with looks including items
such as a textured jacquard peplum dress, a black and white optic weave
peplum dress, and a moss cable leaf sweater with fringe helm. Everything
she does looks very expensive and tasteful though, and she occasionally
will step out of the traditional formal zone with looks like an oxblood
falling leaf fil coupe dress and a dusted pink and oxblood falling leaf
printed silk gazar gown.
Her greatest skill as a designer lies in bringing texture to those classic
aesthetics. She sticks to the sleek and feminine, and it works for her. In
the spirit of a more consumer focused approach to Fashion Week, Rose also
made several looks from her collection immediately available for purchase
after the runway show.
Jeremy Scott always draws from pop culture, and whether it is for his
eponymous label or Moschino, it’s an approach to fashion that continues to
work for him. Scott’s collection was the usual ode to pop art and culture
with sweatshirts featuring characters like Ren and Stimpy and Johnny Bravo.
Candy colors were big for the designer, with colors like pink, yellow,
blue, and green in bright, neon, or metallic shades as major staples of the
color palette.
While a lot of the clothes were the usual Jeremy Scott style pieces, and
some pieces looking like scaled down Moschino, there were a few standout
pieces. His metallic blue pants for men were a very original offering. The
highlight of his collection would have to be a lurex dress studded with
giant beads. It was out-of-this-world to say the least, whether in a good
or bad way depends on your preference for ostentatious things.
Reem Acra is always been creating the most glamorous gowns for the most
high-fashion woman. She stuck to what she is known for when she was
designing her fall 2016 collection, but this time she also brought a higher
level of sex appeal to her chic designs. The theme for her collection this
season was the femme fetale.
Her first look was an ebony lace embroidered dress that screamed
high-fashion sexiness, and set the bar for what the audience could expect.
The impressive set of looks that proceeded included a scarlet silk
charmeuse dress with a lace bodice, a black lace dress with jet black
detail, and a bordeaux silk fringe dress with a lace underpinning. Acra,
who is known for her abilities to execute lace and embroidery, found the
perfect balance between elegant craftsmanship, sexuality, and luxury design
with this collection.
A photo posted by Jeremy Scott (@itsjeremyscott) on Feb 15, 2016 at 4:37pm PST
Of course, while everyone was sticking to their usual strengths, designer
Johnson Hartig of Libertine was out to give the world something new that
resulted in an ear shattering applause from the audience at the end of his
show. The collection included embellishments and crystal embroidery galore,
in addition to very out-of-the-box pieces such as a coat with a pattern of
cigarettes all over it.The line was a multitude of patterns and colors exploding and coming
together for an urban chic, slightly avant garde, yet easily wearable
collection. The finale of the show included models coming out holding signs
making political statements like “Joint the Revolution.” It was a show to
remember, and one that would leave a lasting impression on the industry.As Fashion Week continues, we’ll see how designers will continue to display
their talents.