NEW YORK -
By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL
AP Fashion Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - A flurry of
assistants rushed to protect racks of clothes at New York Fashion Week
from Saturday's sudden downpours - perhaps as potent a reminder as any
during these spring previews that seasons can be temperamental.
Maybe that's why leather is
as common in these previews for spring and summer 2013 as the pops of
color and chiffon you might expect.
"You can wear those leather
jackets all year long," said stylist June Ambrose. "They're sleek
enough to go under a parka or a vest and buttery enough for spring."
Designers have been moving
away from seasonal dressing, meaning that models at Rag & Bone
endured layers of leather in a roasting un-air conditioned preview on
Friday.
"I'm not designing
specifically for 'the show' or even for spring," said Tom Mora of J.
Crew, which has a preview here on Tuesday. "We have deliveries once a
month and we always want it to look new."
The crowd traded tank tops
and open-toed shoes on Friday for long sleeves and boots on Saturday as
rain leaked through the tents at Lincoln Center. Mercedes-Benz Fashion
Week previews for retailers, editors and stylists continue for eight
days, before the fashion crowd heads for London, Milan and Paris.
PRABAL GURUNG
Prabal Gurung is proposing a little more freedom in a woman's wardrobe.
The looser,
less-constructed silhouette was seen from the first look, an ethereal
white hand-embroidered jacket with beads and a trail of chiffon floating
behind, to the last, a blush-colored strapless cocktail dress with
ostrich feathers and "creeping sequins."
"Clothes are moving
slightly away from the body. You know, especially what is happening
around the world right now, especially in America with politics and
everything, the idea of giving freedom to women sounds very, very
exciting to me," he said backstage before the show.
Gurung didn't shy away from
the heavily embellished path, even if it meant going his own way this
round of previews, where other designers have pared down their looks.
He also took into account that women are always in motion. Maybe that explains the new take on "sweatpants" - in printed silk.
EDUN
One doesn't usually think of harsh military green as a color that will come off well on the fashion runway.
But at Edun, the label
founded by U2 rocker Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, the color is used by
designer Sharon Wauchob to embody toughness. Along with designs like a
camouflage print, cargo pants, and utility vests, it's part of a
protective "outer layer" that envelops softer, sexier items in fabrics
like silk and chiffon.
"That's the duality of the
Edun girl - soft but edgy," Hewson said after the show. "This time, we
wanted to take the intimacy of the bedroom out to the street. So for
example you have cargo pants - but in silk."
Edun was founded in 2005 by
Bono and Hewson to promote change through a trading relationship with
Africa. The Edun shows are big draws for fellow celebs, often musicians.
On Saturday, singer Alicia Keys was on hand, as well as R.E.M. frontman
Michael Stipe.
"I love sexy clothes, so this was good for me," Keys said after the show.
JILL STUART
Designer Jill Stuart says
spring is her favorite season, and she tried to convey that in a runway
collection that celebrated lightness and femininity.
That's what Stuart does
these days: pretty clothes that don't reinvent the wheel. There was a
delicate white lace tea-time dress, and lingerie-inspired silk tap pants
with a bustier top covered by a trench. A high-neck, bone-colored
blouse was made of lace and dotted with flower appliques, and a
seafoam-green, one-shouldered dress with a keyhole cutout on the top and
a pleated skirt gave the catwalk a shot of color.
She is aiming for
"timeless, elegant dresses that are always capturing the season," Stuart
said backstage, but that could really be worn anytime. "I want to wear
the black lace dress that's opening the show right now, tonight." (She
has a dinner date with her daughter.)
REBECCA TAYLOR
Rebecca Taylor's muse for
the spring season is the city girl - normally quite content where she is
- who allows herself to dream of that tropical vacation from time to
time.
On the runway, Taylor
transported her to Hawaii. Of course, this urban dweller doesn't have
board shorts. She packs a coral-colored hibiscus print T-shirt dress
with sexy cutouts.
The collection also
included soft, washed denim pieces contrasted with silk ones studded
with jewels. When this girl touches back home and is ready to return to
work, Taylor offered her a textured turquoise leather jacket, black
dotted bra top and flirty black knit skirt.
"I think sexy is changing.
Strong is a good way for a woman to feel sexy - not overtly feminine,
but not the power shoulder of the '80s and '90s," Taylor said before the
show. "I'm not quite going there."
CHRISTIAN SIRIANO
Some of his fashionista
fans and "Project Runway" followers may not know this, but Christian
Siriano danced ballet when he was younger, as did his sister.
And so, when the designer
was seeking inspiration for his latest collection, he found it in
ballet, specifically in American Ballet Theatre's production of "The
Dream," which evokes a sumptuous fairy-tale world filled with
pastel-colored tulle. "I was feeling very romantic," he said in a
backstage interview.
Siriano, who won the fourth
season of "Project Runway" and has done more with that launching pad
than any other winner, thrilled his audience with a series of graceful,
delicate and sometimes dramatic designs, in colors like ballet pink, sea
foam, mint, ivory, champagne and watercolor (that last color looked
exactly like it had been mixed at Monet's easel.)
He saved the most dramatic
gesture for the end: There was an audible gasp when not one but three
models came out to show the final look, striding three across with one
slightly in front, as if in a ballet sequence. They wore flowing tulle
applique dresses, one in watercolor, one in pink and one in sea foam.
BILLY REID
The town met the country when designer Billy Reid infused his men's and women's collections with some of his Alabama charm.
Ascots, pelican prints and
fishing shirts took over a very urban space Friday night sandwiched
between art galleries in Chelsea. He offered a coated cotton utility
jacket paired with high-waisted trousers and a gold linen shirtdress
with exaggerated pockets for women, and a leather peak-lapel jacket,
worn with a linen mock turtleneck and sharkskin-texture trouser for men.
When Reid's two worlds come
together, the audience sees charm, good taste and a bit of wit. Perhaps
more importantly, though, there's a sense of reality here: There are
stylish linen sportcoats, luxe - and on-trend - leather looks, and
well-tailored suits, including chic, slim pantsuits for women, that one
could imagine being worn by the finicky fashion crowd and everyone else.
The warning should come
that while the styles have broad appeal, the price tags might not. Reid
seems to favor rich fabrics and materials, especially suedes, lambskin
and leather in beige, bone and tobacco.
CUSHNIE ET OCHS
The Cushnie et Ochs spring
collection was full of chic, sharp lines, but designers Carly Cushnie
and Michelle Ochs didn't use a razor's edge to get them.
It was clean without the mean on this runway at the downtown Milk Studios at New York Fashion Week on Friday.
A group of white dresses -
one a slinky jersey, one with butterfly sleeves and another with
skin-baring slits on the bodice and seemingly held together at the
bustline by a metal triangle - set the tone of relaxed elegance, while a
parade of black dresses, dressier in silk faille and satin that
emphasized sheath shapes and high waists, sealed the no-nonsense deal.
Sandwiched in between the
black and white were the shades of ocean blue that have proved popular
along with black and white at these seasonal previews.
CHARLOTTE RONSON
Charlotte Ronson said it
with fishnet accents and see-through vinyl varsity jackets during a
runway show filled with flouncy dresses in sea greens, ocean blues,
lemonade and mint.
To the beat of her DJ twin,
Samantha, the designer on Friday also sent out a water lily print in
black, blue and taupe for dresses, skirts and bralettes.
Dresses were girly, some
with pleated bottoms above the knee. Others were done with sheer panels
also used in peplum blouses and with a denim stripe print.
Paris Hilton, Rachel Zoe, Kimora Lee Simmons and her ex-husband, Russell Simmons, sat in the front row with their daughters.
TOMMY HILFIGER
Tommy Hilfiger wants men to
put some prep in their step with his varsity-inspired collection, fit
for an afternoon cricket match or a leisurely day on the yacht.
Seersucker blazers and
shorts in Hilfiger's signature red, white and blue were adorned with
college emblems and gold insignia buttons. Slim-fitted suits were paired
with crisp, button-down shirts or V-neck cashmere sweaters. And there
were stripes- lots and lots of stripes in a collection inspired by
Hilfiger's style icons: James Dean, Paul Newman and the Kennedys.
"We think that stripes are really going to be the rule of the spring/summer for men," Hilfiger said before the show.
Gold-medalist swimmer Nathan Adrian sat front row alongside Joshua Bowman and Gabriel Mann, stars of ABC's "Revenge."
"I've been wearing Tommy
since high school and it's just so sharp," said Mann. "I think that's my
favorite style actually: prep with edge."
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AP Writers Jocelyn Noveck, Leanne Italie and Nicole Evatt contributed to this report.
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