February 17, 2006
New York's Fall Fashion Week Wrap-Up, Vibe-Style
Invites in hand, stilettos attached to tired feet, slacks pressed just-so, New Yorkers piled into show after show during last week's Fashion Week.
Newcomers like LL Cool J, with his Todd Smith line and Michael Wesetly, who borrowed 13 actors from "The Color Purple," and veterans like Christophe Lamaire who was inspired by De La Soul's seminal 3 Feet High and Rising when designing the Fall/Winter 2006 collection for Lacoste, wowed the crowds with innovative new designs.
There was something for the fickle palates of every fashion-forward man and trend-savvy woman. Max Azria's BCBG collection was inspired by "the artist within" and the Beatnik generation, and featured tons of black and earth-toned garments in tweed and cashmere, that could easily adorn the figure of any soul or neo-soul artist. Alice Roi was another designer to work with muted colors and cozy fabrics. Roi used gingham print and a lot of navy and cream-colored garments throughout her collection, which had a decidedly wintry feel with her models sporting messy buns and black lipstick.
Reality television fans got a chance to see the mini-collections of the four finalists for Heidi Klum's "Project Runway" show in which budding designers compete for a grand prize including a mentorship with the Banana Republic design team, $100,000 to start his or her own line, and a fashion spread in ELLE magazine featuring his or her designs. Daniel Vasovic, Kara Janx, Chloe Dao and the controversial Santino Rice all showed their collections. Vasovic and Janx's were the crowd favorites as Vasovic featured cowl neck blouses and double-breasted coats, and Janx highlighted earth tones with electric pinks and blues, while tying the collection together with a knit-wool cap worn by each model.
Seventy-three year-old designer, Manuel Cuevas, made a rhinestone-studded runway debut. The designer, known as the Rhinestone Rembrandt, has a long history in the music business, having created Elvis's white rhinestone jumpsuits, Johnny Cash's black suits, The Beatles' uniforms for the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and logos including the famous skull-and-roses design for the Grateful Dead and the tongue for the Rolling Stones. Manuel's ready-to-wear collection, was a bit more rodeo oriented than rock-n-roll friendly with rhinestones in abundance and blazers emblazoned with the names of places like Tennessee and Texas.
Here are some of our favorite shows from this year's fashion week:
LL Cool J's Todd Smith Line:
"I feel like i'm finally ready to say to the world, you know what, I can make clothes with the best of them," LL said at the viewing of his Todd Smith Autumn/Winter 2006 Collection at New York's Carlton Hotel. As models stood in groups, sipping champagne in a cocktail party setting, LL spoke to a few reporters about his fashion week debut.
"I like the clothes that are our there," he said. "I believe that you have the Prada's and the Dolce's but i think we should be at that level. Not to knock them, but there is room for another line, another brand."
LL's urban dapper line featured delicate plisse cocktail dresses in navy, emerald and cream, rope belts and pencil pants for the women. The men sported items like a brown sharkskin suit, a crocodile jacket, a russian sable pullover, and patent shoes. Several men were also adorned with leather bags from the line.
The rapper/designer says he is very hands-on in the creation of this line.
"I'm a muse and a creative inspiration," he said. "I picked all the fabrics, together with my team, and I was totally involved in the manufacturing, the sourcing, everything. I'm really in it. I even have an office there! It's the first time I've ever had an office."
Lacoste, by Christophe Lemaire:
This season's Lacoste show was light on the preppy garb and heavy on the hip hop-inspired sportswear. Models entered the runway from the tape deck of a massive, neon stereo.
The highlights of the collection were the brightly-colored padded moon boots for the ladies and patent-leather sneaker for the men, in shiny purple, red, orange and green. Lemaire celebrated De La Soul with fluorescent polo shirts peeking out from under sweaters and puffy parkas, and showed back-to-school designs with zip-up tracksuits, and belted shirt-dresses.
De La's 3 Feet High and Rising, the album that inspired the line, blasted throughout the show as the models strutted down the massive runway.