Front Row — Page 65

Betsey Johnson Spring 2015

September 10, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Betsey Johnson looked to the theme of marriage equality for inspiration for her spring 2015 collection. As always, Betsey Johnson’s runway shows are fun, frolicky, and at times a bit frivolous. The overarching question now is, after all these years does this design icon still have it, or is she just rehashing old ideas?

Well, Johnson is rehashing old ideas as evidenced in this spring collection. But, she still has it!!! Though this collection was heavy on theatrics and a little light on design, Johnson still managed to have fashion pundits rethink some of her tried and true silhouettes. What may have diminished some of the viability of this collection was having too many celebrities and personalities walking her runway. Still, all is forgiven because no one puts on a show like Betsey. A Betsey Johnson runway show is like going back to a favorite dessert that you don’t have very often; you always anticipate the return.

When it came to the actual garments in the show, the looks that had the most impact and retail viability were Johnson’s opening set of pastel, metallic cocktail dresses. And though Betsey divided her collection into various themes, some didn’t quite register, while others feel on the side of costume. Though her lingerie/bedroom theme looks were cute and flirty, the looks should probably be left to a little slap and tickle in the boudoir.

Images courtesy of Bennet Cobliner

Some of the more wearable pieces in the collection were the polka-dot shirtdress in lavender chiffon, a white tuxedo jacket with fitted pants, and a teal lame bridesmaids dresses. There were some interesting bride’s wedding gown options, but some of the beauty of the gowns was lost of the Rupaul’s Drag Race alumni who wore them!

—William S. Gooch

Serena Williams for HSN Spring 2015

September 10, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Serena Williams hits it out of the ballpark. Well, in her case in the extreme corners of any tennis court. As the Grand Slam Winner of 18 Grand Slams, expectations were high when it came to Williams showing her spring 2015 collection for HSN during New York Fashion Week (NYFW). Tennis champion Caroline Wozniacki, Coco Rocha, and even the revered Anna Wintour were in attendance. Unfortunately, Williams didn’t live up to expectations.

But Williams’ milquetoast spring 2015 collection may not be all her doing. She is designing for HSN, a clothing network that appeals to a middle of the road common denominator of consumer buying taste. Hmm, maybe, that is the strum and drang, here.

Interestingly, Serena Williams’ NYFW debut was not completely a typical HSN experience. There was good design in the collection, especially some of the moto jackets in this showing. Coincidentally, some of the better looks in the collection were only made for the runway show and are not available for consumers to purchase on HSN.

In spite of the uneven elements of the collection, Williams did demonstrate that she does understand what the HSN shopper wants; clothing that is easy, comfortable, and that can be dressed up. And Williams’ electric blue, zippered dress was a knockout, as well as some of her asymmetrical skirts.

Images courtesy of fashionwirepress.com

Now, if the fashion industry could only get her to design a collection minus HSN!!

—William S. Gooch

Michael Costello Spring 2015

September 10, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

For spring 2015 Michael Costello looked to the goddess inside every woman. This goddess, supernatural spirit inhabits forests, fields, caves, lakes and the sea. She is alluring to men and attracts to the attention of gods and demigods. Aloof and magical, this woman marches to her own beat, always in control of her amorous interludes, inspired by earth elements and the inner workings of otherworldly manifestations.

In this spring 2015 collection, Costello relies heavily on mermaid silhouettes, as well as other silhouettes that show off a woman’s curves. Costello hit many of the right notes a collection that was majestic, elegant and editorial. Still those right notes all came together cohesively as one note, focusing sometimes too much on the mermaid silhouette. When Costello veered away from the sculptural mermaid silhouette, the collection began to have more depth, nuance, and whimsy.

Costello stayed on trend with lots of illusions, sheer fabrics and skin exposure. Though the reveals were for the most part tastefully done, it is hard to imagine women outside the realm of models, actresses, and pop stars having the gumption to expose their “goodies” to the masses.

Images courtesy of Bennet Cobliner

What Costello did manage to do in this outing is beautifully express his aesthetic through sheer florals, beading, metallic fabrics and colorations that adequately referenced earth elements and his goddess motif. The craft demonstrated in this spring collection solidly places Michael Costello among that new breed of designers that is pushing the genre into new directions, harnessing all the tools of textile innovation, construction and a fashion-forward point of view to create garments that are now and next.

—William S. Gooch

Peter Som Spring 2015

September 9, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

Can good sportswear be both artistic and practical?

Designer Peter Som says finding the balance between those two sensibilities was the driving force behind his spring 2015 collection.

On the practical side, Som provided his ladies with practical solutions, basics with a Som twist. The best of these included an off-white PVC Macintosh, a striped cady double-breasted blazer, and some terrific tailored marine stripe trousers. The classic white shirt was given a carefree twist with a cascade back that billowed with powerful purposefulness as it went down the runway.

The artistic side was reflected in a series of pieces done in a pop art flavored print that looked initially like abstract swirls but, on closer inspection was actually a rose print. And Som inflected even the most mundane items with a bit of flair—tee shirts in python and snake, for example, making the mundane anything but.

The color palette also signaled Som’s mix of practical and the artistic, moving from a military olive green for his urban warrior women to a more lighthearted stripe such as Som’s multi pop stripe cady double breasted blazer, worn with a different stripe cady tunic. The multi pop stripe also showed up in a striking cotton tweed double-breasted coat dress and even in a gown perfect for going from daytime to nighttime.

Som also worked with crisp combinations of black and white and brought a true flair of urban sophistication with a series of black pieces including a black crosshatch eyelet appliqué tee shirt and skirt and a black and white shadow floral sundress that also incorporated the black crosshatch eyelet.

Finally, Som interjected a surprise shot of va va voom with gold lame used in a flutter dress and then a double-breasted blazer and romper. And occasional bursts of lipstick and red further guaranteed that the Som girl still has a playful side.

Images courtesy of Presley Ann Slack

There were a few misfires here and there, particularly Som’s odd aprons, worn over dresses and tunics. But even with this example of utilitarian chic gone wrong Som’s spring 2015 collection still had plenty of other moments that were perfectly right for the season.

—Karyn D. Collins

Exteberria Spring 2015

September 9, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Leather/animal skins with fur for spring? Though not an untried fabric option for spring—for several seasons we have seen soft leather in shorts, tops and as embellishment for pre-spring garments—still, a complete collection of leather garments is an unusual digression from all the diaphanous fabrics and typical cotton fabrications one would expect for spring/summer collections. However, if the brand is Spain-based Exteberria, perhaps, leather as a spring fabric is not such an odd choice.

For spring 2014, creative director Roberto Lopez Exteberria used leather as a main fabric stable of his collection. And his affinity for leather as a spring fabric choice carries heavily over to his spring 2015 collection.

Known primarily as a menswear designer, Roberto Exteberria has branched over into women’s wear, even including a few women’s wear looks in his appearance at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFW). That said; Exteberria strength is his menswear looks, expanding menswear silhouettes to embrace silhouettes that are traditionally a part of the women’s wear assemblage of silhouettes.

Realizing that the male consumer—particularly the American male shopper— is slow to expand his style palette to include new silhouette, in this collection Roberto Exteberria has kept his silhouettes simple as to alienate the male consumer. Still, a lot can be said for Exteberria’s risk-taking; however, will this risk pay off in retail sales.

Images courtesy of Ernest Green

What can be said about this MBFW outing is that Exteberria provided a much-needed creative lift to what many fashion pundits see as a rather bland spring 2015 season. Standouts in this spring 2015 collection is the opening look of the black leather-pleated man skirt, beige leather vest with black shorts with beige leather inserts, color-blocked leather top with blue man skirt, and short-sleeved tan leather trench with animal skin shorts.

—William S. Gooch

Nicole Miller Spring 2015

September 8, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

Nicole Miller is sending her ladies flying down to Rio for next spring.

Using the 1933 film “Flying Down To Rio” and the Peter Allen song “Go To Rio” as inspiration, Miller turned her eye for translating themes into a collection that was sexy, fun and full of tropical heat. But fear not, Miller fans.

These are looks that tantalize with a wink but never scream. Miller knows that there’s a difference between clothes that make a woman feel sexy and clothes that make a woman feel overexposed. It’s called taste.

One of the best looks of the collection was the first dress down the runway—a crepe, ruffle hem dress with a crisscross front done in the signature print for the spring collection—a print of lush tropical green enlivened with splashes of orange (one of the color themes across the board of the season, by the way). This was the epitome of Miller’s sensibility—a little bit of heat thanks to a triangle of exposed midriff in the front and a flash of the gams courtesy of the fun but not too fluffy ruffle hem. But, not too dangerous, thank you very much!!

The print also turned up in a swishy pleat skirt and a print strapless dress made to look like pleats.

Images courtesy of style.com

An art deco inspired black and white wave print—a reference to a pattern from the movie—not only served as a pattern for the runway covering, but also showed up in a series of pieces. A Birds of Paradise print continued the journey to Rio in fun pieces like a cotton metal moto jacket.

The theme took an unfortunate turn towards kitsch with a series of pieces festooned with giant pineapples. But just when the pineapple parade threatened to become too much, Miller sent out another series of winners including a delicious tomato colored stretch linen wrap crop top paired with a georgette skirt in a sidewalk fruit stripe pattern, and an ivory floral embroidered shell with a white twill embroidered skirt that hit just the right balance between tropical beauty and urban sophistication.

—Karyn D. Collins

Karolyn Pho Spring 2015

September 8, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Imagine being asleep in a lucid dream and trapped inside a hospital is the entire cast of “Scrubs.” Everyone is naked and without a designer wardrobe when suddenly a closet appears and all medical uniforms of the cast are futuristically inspired. This vision summarizes, Vagabond, the spring 2015 collection of LA stylist turned designer Karolyn Pho.

This season Pho cleverly transformed medical scrubs, nursing outfits, and even Dansko white clogs into a cool downtown uniform. How does Pho rework such stark references and make a collection playful and whimsical? Mostly in a color palette of sky blue and pearl white, Pho adds sequins on several ensembles and highlights erogenous zones with cutouts, pops of color and racer back looks.

A few standout pieces included a saturated emerald green deep v shift dress and ivory mock neck tubular pleated gown. Pho did well redesigning the lab coat into several remixed designs including: shirtdresses, blazers, overcoats and tees all interestingly persuaded by men’s tailoring techniques.

Images courtesy of Dan and Corina Lecca/nymag.com

Pho’s day jackets, the remakes of lab coats, were great additions for a woman’s daytime wardrobe. Some “party” dresses lacked maturity and even with added sequins the transformation of fantasy into reality did not always translate. Yet, overall Karolyn Pho’s collection was a light display of future cool.

—Kelly L. Mills

Venexiana Spring 2015

September 7, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

For several seasons now, Kati Stern has demonstrated that she has a strong affection for column gowns that harken back to silhouettes of the Golden Age of Hollywood. And this season was no exception.

Though Stern did employ other silhouettes this season, the column silhouette that she incorporated so brilliantly for fall/winter 2014 was still front and center for spring 2015. What was different in this outing was Stern’s use of sequins and cutouts.

Stern started this collection with an assemblage of black gowns with cutouts that were a combination of crop top and illusions. The column silhouette continued through much of the collection with a color palette that included lots of metallic fabrics in pewter, bronze, petrol, gold leaf and silver.

Though the column silhouette worked adequately well in this collection, fall 2014 seemed more of fit for Stern’s column gowns. Perhaps, that was due to Stern’s ingenious pairing of the column gowns with cropped fur jackets and Stern’s using more dark hues and colors rendering the fall 2014 looks more drama, glamour, and distinction.

For spring 2014 there was, of course, more bold color and wider variety of embellished fabrics. Still, the repetition of one sequined gown after the next tended to dull the excitement of the initial beautiful sequined renderings, especially when Stern, as always, has so many looks in collection—57 to be exact.

Images courtesy of Ernest Green

Still, there were several brilliant standouts. Stern’s multicolored floral silk chiffon halter gown with crystal detail, mint silk satin one-shoulder gown with Preciosa crystal belt, black and gold sequin beaded halter gown, petrol sequin halter gown with Preciosa crystal collar, and dusty rose beaded sequin gown with plunge neckline and Preciosa crystals prove that Kati Stern is still on her game. And though not quite as provocative and stunning as last season, still on trend, glamorous, elegant, and worth noting.

William S. Gooch

Custo Barcelona Spring 2015

September 7, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

For spring/summer 2015 there is lots of sheer fabrics, bare skin and more bare skin. And no body does bare skin better than Custo Barcelona. Aptly named this SKIN collection emphasized the sensuality of the feminine silhouette, allowing the sexual, and sometimes sassy side of women to come out, front and center.

Custo Barcelona is a miasma orf bold color, fabric combinations, silhouettes and design aesthetic. And where the disparate points of view has left some consumers confused or nonplussed some seasons, for spring 2015 Custo’s crazy quilt of ideas was more cohesive and consumer friendly.

In this outing, Dalmau Custo channeled Giorgio Sant’Angelo with a nod to Rudi Gernreich. The geometric cutouts and subtle transparencies in a range of textile—ultra light linens, flowy silks, and a variety of diaphanous fabrics—helped created depth, texture, and nuance.

The spring/summer 2014 collection made for the consumer who is in shape and not afraid to show some skin. Custo stays in trend this season with lots of cutouts, sheer fabrics and wide mix of fabrications. And though this collection had more a resort point view, projected toward exotic locales, there were some great separates that would work in a variety of spring/summer temperatures.

Though the reveals in this collection were provocative, they were not without taste or sophistication. Still, the daring Custo Barcelona devotees would be more aligned with where the brand is going this season than most customers. That said; there were some separates and in particular the men’s look that would appeal to consumers who are not a part of the Custo shopping cabine.

As always there were lots of bold color combinations in this collection. However, unlike previous outings, there were more neutral—black and white combinations—than usually found in a Custo Barcelona collection. Perhaps, this was one of the elements that made this collection more consumer-friendly. And the joy, sensuality and whimsical spirit of this outing added to the appeal that may capture a more diverse audience.

—Rosemary Ponzo

Lie Sang Bong Spring 2015

September 7, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

For spring 2015 Lie Sang Bong looked to happiness that can be achieved by dedication and hard work in spite of personal and/or national tragedy. This positive outlook on life was reflected in garments that incorporated a dreamy cloudscape that looked upward toward paradise, a nirvana of sorts.

For this frothy paradise Bong collaborated with Korean artist Jang Seung Hyo. This projection toward heavenly bliss held a special significance for Bong in light of the Korean ferryboat MV Sewol tragedy that claimed the lives of several high school students. Still, Bong used this tragedy as a way to tap into his own inner positivity, creating a spring collection that was a masterpiece of construction, technique and innovation.

Unlike some collections this season that solely went for looks that substituted retail viability in place of creativity and innovation, Bong found that delicate balance between consumer appeal and looks that were pieces of fashion art. That said; some looks may not translate easily from runway to department store or boutique racks. But, again, fashion should not always be about merchandising or pandering to the lowest common denomination. And Bong demonstrates in this collection that fashion as art and fashion as commerce can be congenial bedfellows.

Images courtesy of Bennet Cobliner

This exuberant and uplifting collection featured abstract butterfly prints, neutrals and hues of sky blue and gold. And Bong’s marriage of architecture and fantasy were expressed in his inimitable detailing, digital lace designs, airy trench coats and frothy separates that can be mixed and matched with a variety of garments.

—William S. Gooch