Globe Style's Amy Verner is in New York covering Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week until Sept. 15. Look for her reports daily.
New York Fashion Week was in full throttle on Sept. 11, 2001. There was a group of lesser known designers, the New York Times reported last week, whose shows were cancelled in the wake of the tragedy. In response, the industry, led by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, formed an event called An American View that brought these designers together in one big show.
Yesterday, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the shows certainly went on – as they should have. Some bemoaned Victoria Beckham's timeslot at the sensitive hour of 9 a.m. (there was a moment of silence to remember the moment the South Tower was hit). But overall, people flitted from show to show like it was any other day.
The lineup included a trifecta of blue-chip New York labels: Donna Karan New York, Diane Von Furstenberg and Tommy Hilfiger, who all acknowledged the day, if not in their clothes then in their actions.
Guests arrived at their seats to find show notes topped with a cover sheet that read: "We remember that day 10 years ago that changed our city forever. We remember the courage, the inspiration, the compassion. How we came together, reaffirming our strength to the world. There is truly no place anywhere like our beloved city, New York. Our inspiration." The Donna Karan Company also made a donation to Action America, which has helped turn 9/11 into a day of volunteerism.
A card on the seats at Tommy Hilfiger, meanwhile, informed guests that a donation had been made to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund, which supports those who died in the line of duty.
Diane Von Furstenberg, the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, emerged at the end of her show to hand out little flags to those in the front row (a heavyweight who's who that included Valentino, Tina Brown, Barry Diller and Oscar De La Renta). Just call her a true style stateswoman.
DKNY paints the town Barbie pink
Donna Karan wants women to protect their faces from the sun. At least this seemed like the implicit message in sending every model out in colour variations of an identical floppy hat, regardless whether she wore a city chic ensemble or beachwear. While it might have been a runway styling trick, I also suspect that they brains at the company view it as foolproof item, one that can be mass-produced – and mass purchased.
In a neat setting switch-up, the models entered into a Chelsea ballet studio from the street where a New York taxi, complete with DKNY rooftop ad, served as backdrop. They started out in youthful office attire – a double-breasted jacket dress with ivory shirtdress tails hanging out, a sleeveless tailored vest dress – and transitioned to sportswear, where the was no mistaking the American spirit (florals, tweeds, stripes, swishes and solids in bold red and blue). And less literally, this was conveyed through bikinis, sweaters, skinny jeans and bags in an ink-splattered print à la Jackson Pollock and a grouping in what would best be recognized as Barbie pink.
Livin' la vida Lam
To watch Sunday's Derek Lam collection was to dream about a certain familiar yet fresh lifestyle: call it modern mid-century modern. His starting points were Richard Neutra's Kauffman House in Palm Springs and laid-back luxury. And so he filled a fantasy closet with transitional bonded leather coats and blazers in coral and caramel, summery poolside dresses with tile embroidery insets and knits in shades of peppermint, candy cane and lemon yellow. In his patterns and colourways, there was much that would delight an interior designer. I also saw the types of pieces that an ultra rafinée woman would throw on for a trip to the bank. Then, of course, she'd return and change into a black lambskin overall dress, just because she could.
Jeremy Laing's soft samurai style
Laing, a Toronto-based designer who shows in New York, often manages to make his designs look as if they're never fully fastened; things drape and hang and fall with ease (or, at most, are belted with chic insouciance). He introduced a soft take on samurai style, tweaking his enveloping winter silhouettes for spring, including a lantern dress in jersey and a linen trench that flowed around the body with airy volume. His followers have come to expect at least one dynamic print each season, and that seemed to be missing this time around. Prints didn't disappear altogether – there was one made of stencilled lines – but they were all too faint.
Zac Posen's couture touch
As day turned to dusk, Posen's show unfolded on the terrace of Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic, an intimate venue that befitted the sophisticated nature of his collection. Although only 30, the native New Yorker has been designing for ten years and his forte is elegance in the tradition of couturiers Christian Dior and Nina Ricci. Dress after dress – from knee grazing to floor sweeping – showed off his impeccable technique and understanding of womanly glamour. Some of these designs will likely go straight from showroom to the red carpet where they surely will be Joan Rivers and Ryan Seacrest approved (bonus points for actresses who select the emerald draped lame gown). Others will be ordered up by mothers of brides. My only quibble – as much a compliment, really – is that Posen is more like a couturier from decades ago than a designer of our time.