NEW YORK — Most people are taught from a young age that they want their outfits to match.
Isn’t that why there are suits? And belts should complement shoes. And try to wear the same shades of black, right?
The biggest group of offenders to that conventional wisdom, however, is probably fashion designers. In the styles they’ve been previewing at New York Fashion Week, which hit its midpoint Sunday, it has been “juxtaposition” this and “opposite” that.
“It’s all in the mix: feminine with masculine, sexy and slouchy, tailored with sport, chic with street,” according to notes for the DKNY show.
It was OK at Tracy Reese that a raffia lace dance skirt covered with circle patterns was worn with a floral cropped shirt, and a checkered backpack was strapped to a floral top.
Designers can do it well, sometimes, with years of experience mixing colors and patterns — and having confidence. And times have changed, too.
“There’s more freedom now to express yourself through your clothes than there was 20 years ago, 50 years ago. You can wear that full feminine skirt with the man’s shirt. Go ahead, take your cues from the runway,” Reese said.
Here are more fashion notes from the runway:
Kenneth Cole
Cole’s sporty Anorak and track jackets, hoodies and drawstring pants weren’t clothes to just throw on in the morning without care. The mix of snakeskin, calf-hair camo and leather elevated normally casual silhouettes.
“The world is consumed with myriad points of view,” Cole said in his notes. “And through ever-emerging technologies, our points of view can now be made available to everyone, everywhere.”
That’s why he sent his models down the runway with their own mobile devices to snap the crowd.
Victoria Beckham
The tight ship Beckham seems to run at fashion week allowed her collection to sail smoothly down the runway.
For Beckham, there was no chaos or confusion. That goes for her small, insider-only show as well as the clothes she offers. She sticks to her vision: a chic, no-fuss approach to fashion.
Things were mostly black and white, and there was no adornment or embellishment. She does allow for the occasional pop of pink, which is impactful because of her restraint.
It’s become the norm that David Beckham comes out a few moments before the show to shake a few hands, and then their toddler daughter, Harper, sits on his lap as the models go by. They, along with everyone else, get only a short peek at Victoria who pops out for a quick wave — and stays away from the cameras.
DKNY
Twenty-five years in fashion is worth celebrating, and that’s what Donna Karan did Sunday at her DKNY show.
She was all smiles as she did her lap of the runway after her parade of flirty, colorful looks.
Karan wasn’t afraid to pay homage to the late 1980s when this brand — geared toward a younger woman with a smaller paycheck than her signature collection — was launched. The soundtrack was courtesy of the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Aerosmith, and the backdrop was done in graffiti, reminiscent of New York’s grittier time.
“DKNY, I mean, really it was a nod to 25 years of DKNY saying that it’s as good today as it was then,” Karan said of the show.
“We celebrated the city of life, it happens in New York City. They’re clothes that last forever. They’re clothes that have been inspired from nylons to lifestyle to yoga to bathing suits. You name it we do it, but it’s done within the DKNY frame, and I think they’re classics but they go to the next level,” she added.
She showed flirty, flippy skirts now made of neoprene, slouchy trousers and even overalls. There was the updated version of “the naked dress” with its invisible straps and sexy bias cut that Carrie Bradshaw wore on “Sex and the City,” worn by Karlie Kloss in red.
Diane von Furstenberg
After four days of runway shows, it takes something special to get the fashion week crowd excited, and apparently Naomi Campbell is it.
Campbell, regarded by fashion insiders as queen of the catwalk, got the often-jaded crowd cheering when she wore the finale look at von Furstenberg’s show Sunday. The look: a black, gold and white knit macrame sleeveless shift dress.
It fit into von Furstenberg’s broader theme of “oasis,” which also inspired some retro glam tunic-and-pants sets, ombre prints and a safari animal T-shirt dress worn by a model and von Furstenberg herself when she took her bow.
The designer stuck close to the looks that have made her famous: the wrap dress, wide-leg pants and prints. She could pick any one of the pieces on the runway for her own summer vacations, which she spends on her yacht.
“What I wanted to do was create in this world that’s a little terrifying and scary, I wanted to create an oasis of peace, of beauty, of color and of harmony,” she said in a backstage interview. “I care about making the woman feel beautiful.”
Monique Lhuillier
Does Lhuillier have perfect timing or what? Fashion Week hits right before the Emmy Awards — and then again in February right before the Oscars. Hollywood surely is her bread and butter.
The looks on her runway were lovely, and she clearly catered to her celebrity crowd with many gowns and cocktail looks. But her own wardrobe was a factor, she said in a backstage interview: “I always look at women that I know and myself, and I’m like, ‘What do I want to wear next?’ I always tell myself I want to have to want to wear these clothes because if I don’t, then women won’t.”
Gone were big ballgowns or super-slim sheaths. Do we miss them? Not really.
Cynthia Rowley
Cynthia Rowley was true to, well, Cynthia Rowley with fun and funky dresses and two-piece sets featuring thick embroidery.
A full, long skirt in rose was paired with the embroidery in yellow, one of the standouts at a presentation she turned into a Mexican fiesta in a cavernous hotel space that was once part of a seminary.
A short-sleeve dress in white with thin horizontal stripes had fans of blue embroidery at the chest and floppy, poppy red flower applique at the shoulders.
“For me, this season, I just wanted to be true to myself and my brand. It’s sporty, it’s pretty, it’s a little sexy, a little bit colorful, but also experimenting with a lot of new techniques,” she said.
Joseph Altuzarra
Altuzarra, his mother and grandmother nearby, offered this message for the woman he dresses: Relax this spring.
With an emphasis on “woman,” as opposed to “girl.”
“I love the shape of the average woman’s body, and that’s why I always say ‘woman’ and not ‘girl,’ ” the 30-year-old explained in a backstage interview after rolling out shimmery silvers and golds for evening, layered Oxford shirting for day and a range of silks.
Altuzarra’s woman isn’t afraid of his high-slit dresses and skirts, long fringe on a white leather jacket and skirts, or white wool ponchos as he left behind some of the structure and aggressiveness of collections past. Inspired in part by the patchwork of traditional Japanese Boro clothing farmers and fisherman, he brought utilitarian grace to red and blue silk stripes, cotton jackets and blouses, and drawstring skirts.
This collection lends his brand an easy elegance, but his customer remains the same.
“She’s someone who’s quite sensual and is very in touch with her femininity, her sexuality,” Altuzarra said. “I actually prefer dressing a woman as opposed to a young girl.”
Herve Leger
The best model for the new spring Herve Leger collection wasn’t on the runway, she was next to it: Nicki Minaj clapped heartily for and took her own photos of each dress that was paraded in front of her at his show. Then she stood up in her own black bandage-style dress and gave designers Max and Lubov Azria a standing ovation.
Her presence largely changed the tone of the audience conversation, which had been about rumored financial troubles with the label, but Minaj — even with the camera-and-security frenzy she caused — helped put the focus back on the clothes.
Leger has a look: second-skin silhouettes that strictly follow the curves of the body. What’s new each season is the palette — black, blue and blush this time — and the embellishment, which included zippers and fringe.
There also were flashes of skin on the bodice with strategic cutouts, emerging as a trend this season on other runways, too.
Mara Hoffman
Hoffman has some hashtags for us: Fearless. Rainbow. Vibes.
As in good vibes. As in good vibes inspired by color, light and happiness playing out in her bold spring collection.
She said in a backstage interview that the collection is fit for a gang of rainbow warriors. As in warriors with extra-long braids down their backs, some dressed in sheer beaded chiffon adorned with neon orange, yellow and green. Others went into runway battle in bright tribal prints for mid-leg looks, shorts and swimsuits.
“I’m being a little bolder this season,” Hoffman said, “as fortune favors the bold.”
Christian Siriano
At 27 and fresh from an island vacation, Christian Siriano the designer is working on Christian Siriano the mogul.
The former makeup artist and hair stylist has a new year-long beauty partnership with Sebastian Professional, an as-yet unnamed fragrance and his bespectacled eyes on designing, yes, eyewear.
And he hopes to expand his brick-and-mortar presence over the next few years. Now, he has just one namesake shop that opened last year in downtown Manhattan, selling everything from accessories to fancy home goods.
“The last year or two has been really about growing the business,” Siriano said in an interview backstage. “I really wanted to make sure we were selling clothes first and really building with retailers.”
So how big is too big for the season four “Project Runway” winner? Does he fret losing himself in a lifestyle brand?
“I thought it would be hard,” Siriano said. “But at the end of the day, I’m growing up. I’m definitely learning every season about what I can do, what I can’t do. What I like and what I don’t like.”
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