Spring 2007 New York Fashion Week Wrap-Up
Courtney Roy
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Several opening shows this year shunned the conventional wisdom in the fashion world, and several young designers chose to forgo the Bryant Park tents for personal showrooms, private clubs, or, as Benjamin Cho chose to do, a vacant apartment in Trump Tower. With the controversy and pressure to have corporate sponsorships surrounding Bryant Park these designers moved their shows into more private and intimate spaces. These shows were undoubtedly more personal, but for young designers in need of exposure, they could prove to be detrimental, as few editors and buyers attended these shows.
These shows, especially Cho's, however, provided a fresher take on American fashion. Cho experimented with metal zippers, bunching and twisting them to create new shapes, and making them the key to the clothing's shape. On a taught silk dress he used zippers to create the look of snakes around the hips, and on another pink chiffon dress he winded zippers through the vents going down the length of the dress. Just coming off of a break from designing, Cho clearly spent much time considering the necessity for something fresh and innovative in the fashion world.
Over in Bryant Park young designers continued to make waves. Zac Posen, at just 25-years old finally seems to have made his way into high fashion and is moving to a new level of ageless sophistication. Taking a step away from his peers, Posen showed a collection with pieces beyond the rompers, bubble skirts, and crushed down ankle socks seen in so many other shows. Instead, he focused on romance: pairing a ruffled champagne colored blouse with a high-waisted white pantsuit, a shining minidress with a lush feathered hem, a short white dress with an exaggerated sailor neckline, and another minidress, this time with silvery hints and butterfly sleeves.
Though each look presented was polished, immaculately styled, and subtly suggestive, each one represented its own personality and individuality. Posen's collection, as critic Cathy Horyn put it has "finally earned his right to sit at the big people's table."
Both Michael Kors and Narciso Rodriguez focused on the body in their collections. Kors took his signature clean look for this season, pairing belted slim black jackets with black leggings, oversize white cotton shirts, and one-shouldered jersey tunics. Towards the end of the show he added in a sportier feel with a washed brown leather bomber jacket over thin jersey layers and a deep brown cashmere cardigan layered with filmy knit tops and a python miniskirt.