New York Fashion Week - They Didn't Give Up

Everybody understands how difficult the retail environment is in the middle (end) of this recession. Some designers simply gave up. Their line ups looked as if the designers no longer cared; Others showed fewer looks but much better edited compared to previous seasons. In fact, some designers didn't give up and they shined!

Marc Jacobs

I've stopped guessing what he will do next many seasons ago. He always gives fashion a good spin and surprises us. Marc Jacobs has made his point: pretty ruffles are in and 80s shoulders are out. Take notes my friends: DON'T TOUCH THE STRONG SHOULDERS you see in stores this winter. They will be out before next spring.

Balenciaga

I know, I know. Balenciaga will only show in two weeks following London and Milan. What I am trying to say is that many designers were more or less inspired by Balenciaga's last end-of-recession looks from SS03 and SS04. There are many body-conscious and structured silhouettes. There are also printed A-line dresses. To me, they are all recycled Balenciaga looks. I like them and I can wear them all day long.

What does that mean? It means skinny jeans are still in and will stay. It also means that everybody needs to work hard to keep fit.

BCBG

BCBG showed many cute and wearable clothes on the runway. I was intrigued enough to search on their website, but I was disappointed by the disconnection between the runway looks and the final products. The FW09 clothes only looks 1/3 as good compared to their runway looks. I'm not certain what the causes are, but fabrics might be the reason. Or perhaps the models they used for their commercial website are somehow a little off?

Calvin Klein

The winner of the week. Francisco Costa has been playing with structure and volume for quite a few seasons. In the latest season, he also combined volume with some very interestingly crinkled fabrics. Fabrics were sewn in some exquisite method and that creates not only volumes but interesting moves when the models walked on runway. Models appeared to be sweaty but very fresh. This creates an interesting juxtaposition between sexiness and the futuristic nonchalance. The collection is mainly comprised of different versions of T-shirt dresses, but the volume and the construction interest me extremely. When is the trunk show?

Helmut Lang

Wearable, cool and affordable. I can see myself buying most of the clothes off their runway looks, and this is pretty rare. They actually use pretty decent fabrics, so that separates them from their competitors on the Barneys co-op floor. Yeah you'd better make nice clothes with that name!