With designers playing it safe for New York Fashion Week, it was refreshing to see Marc Jacobs daring to be adventurous, writes Aisling Cullen
The cold and snowy winter days of New York haven't kept the crowds away from the many fashion shows held in Manhattan this week. But New York Fashion Week, known for being a bit dry and commercial, has taken longer than usual to hot up.
When the economy starts to go down, designers tend to play it safe with trustworthy shapes and luxurious fabrics. The glamour and extravagance of the European shows upstage New York each year, and this year is no exception. Shows seem to be shorter than usual (designers usually show 50 to 60 pieces, this year it has been more like 30 to 40), catwalk set designs are plain and basic, and big-name models such as Gisele are missing. Overall, New York's menagerie of hip and trendy seems more subdued this year.
The one designer who gave us the jolt that we needed this week was New York's darling, Marc Jacobs. For many critics and buyers, Jacobs's show is the highlight of Fashion Week. This is not just because of the celebrity gridlock each year in the front row, but more because Marc Jacobs usually has the innate ability to know exactly how people want to dress next season. This year, P. Diddy, Helena Christiansen, Liv Tyler and Sex and the City's Kristen Davies were just some of the stars that came in support.
Jacobs is best known for taking themes from the past and recreating and reinterpreting the design. But this year he seemed to have been off the mark in reading his customers. His collection was a tribute to retro 1960s designers Andres Courreges and Pierre Cardin. It was a Space Age theme filled with colour that was quite cartoonish with a silly charm. Simple boxy thigh-high coats with oversized round pockets came in electric blue and lavender. Red micro miniskirts were teamed with cream ribbed turtlenecks and opaque blue stockings, and set off with orange kitten heel pointed shoes. His short evening paillette dresses were swinging down the catwalk in strips of silver and white.
The aquarium of colour certainly turned heads at the show, but some of the boxier-shaped shift dresses made even the super skinny models look big. It wasn't that the collection was bad; it was quite cute and colourful. But cute and colourful is for young girls - women like to look sultry and sophisticated, and these outfits are priced for women. Rich women.
But Jacobs's urbanwear, under the "Marc" label, did hit the spot with his fans. His grungy, French-inspired collection was a nirvana of tartan berets, houndstooth bustiers and lilac, blue and dusty pink sweaters. And who would have thought that something so grungy could look so tailored? There was something for everyone lured to the hip label when Jacobs went through the decades with some 1960s shift dresses to 1980s-style, buckled, calf-high boots.
Cute kicky skirts were set off with colourful prints such as leopard, polka dots and checkers. Although the Irish have yet to catch on fully to the frenzy that is Marc Jacobs, this collection is sure to catch the attention of those who are looking for an edgy style.
Donna Karan usually goes for a feminine, sweet girl look but for her DKNY collection this year she's trying to be the good girl who wants to be bad, and it looks great. She named her collection after creative urban personalities: the writer, the artist and the musician. Chic, feminine silhouettes had a mischievous twist that young hip fashionistas will love. Fabrics were all over the scale. Karan went from chiffon to leather to silk, using modern trends and accents throughout the collection. Ali MacGraw in Love Story would have gone wild about the preppy "writer" look with brown tailored tweed jackets, loose white shirts and sinfully short, multi-tiered skirts.
The musician's clothes consisted of leather biker jackets and trousers embellished in just enough zips to be cool. And the artist wore soft mohairs and furs, and pretty pink and mint green lace camisoles.