NYFW; Day 1; Lashings of Lace, Girls in Dresses, Cool Creatures and Mens’ Shirts

New York continues in its usual commercially savvy form. In day two there was lace, puffy things, cheese overload and the usual scramble. For best in show;

Tadashi Shoji.

I don’t know what made this collection so damn sweet but this was as Shoji said it was, a “sweet liberation”. Lace! Lace on lace, lace on checks or plaid or whatever you call this fabric, lace with fringe. Let it be known that Tadashi Shoji owned lace in a way its never been owned before. The look was ladylike and it played up the vibrancy of a demure collection of dresses, some pants, full flouncy skirts and a smidgen of peplum ugh. But I soon got over that to focus on all the pretty at play. There was an air of youth, but not the youth of the rockstar MTV generation that has been on display for the last decade or so in fashion, this was a mature type of youth, sheath dresses, lace over check, check over lace, tea/midi length (this length is always a winner) even crop tops over dresses and let me tell you, it worked here. In fresh, so fresh, colours of spring; pale lemon, sweet mint green, lavender…light and delightful. Best in show.

Creature of the Wind.

This is what cool girls look like and they are not even trying to be cool. Creatures of the Wind has become one of my must see shows during fashion week, because Gabier and Peters are two of the most talented young designers who feel like they are just doing their thing. This was off the beaten path of fashion, as we have come to expect from the duo but there was something of a restraint to this collection that marks a differentiation from their past outings. Of course at some point they have to get in line with commerce however, they haven’t lost their knack for doing things a little to the left which still pleases. There were separates and metallics, sport accents and tailored elements, you get the sense that they are trying to break away from the dude movement into a more grown up era whilst still holding down and never letting go of their signature, so blazers are embroidered but sharply cut with short sleeves, pants are cropped and the dresses thrown off with panels and inserts that alluded more to their savvy. If the boxy silhouette was a bit of a blah we didn’t notice… I appreciate this evolution from this very awesome brand.

Honor.

Girls in pretty dresses. There’s really no need to say more than that with Honor’s ss14 collection which was straddling two worlds of pretty and wound up. That whole florals for spring moment in TDWP almost came to mind sometimes but it was saved by flashes of darling, I love the fusion of materials; taming of tulles, laser cut lusciousness, lace and sequins…it was all rather nice at times a bit much other times a little granny because it lacked that punch, but there were some pretty pleasing pieces. I’m a sucker for a good dress and Honor had some kick ass dresses that will be replicated in the high street come spring.

BCBG Maxazria.

What Lubov and Max do, they do so well and that’s gentile femininity. Its never a far stray from that point of view and I have to say, I like that, it may be a bit predictable but something about it melts your heart…too much? This was a stunning collection of the effeminate masculine, so it walked that perfect line between androgyny and feline and found the perfect balance by taking it man’s shirt apart and putting it together in a way to suit the woman; silk infused with cotton, sheer panels, georgette details, tails and lapels misplaced. There was a touch of the dark floral romance and fresh prints with an overall laid-back but dressed up feel. Yes there was some peplum, again, but I was willing to overlook that because they had me at the colour palette of soft and fresh, baby blues and cool beiges especially.

Richard Chai Love.

Dresses over pants, skirts over pants, moto jackets, stripes, leathers and scarlet colours, were all included in the Richard Chai Love collection for SS14. So really, there is something for all. The sweeping aesthetic was geometric prints that were tamed with block colours, whether it was a combination of black and white, red on nudes, whatever the variety, it didn’t look like a walking kaleidoscope ambling down the runway. Long and wide palazzo pants are gonna be big so there’s no going home, reigned them in with cropped tops. The moto jackets stole the show, particularly that all black everything look finished off with the zipped up moto jacket; pretty bad ass. For menswear there were spring summer suits and some leathers. His collaboration with Andrew Marc saw some mean leather jackets for, quilt on moto jackets? Sold. The cream suit with sky blue or baby blue shirt is the way every man should dress for Spring henceforth. Oh, and there are legs on show, three-quarter length shorts are big with the boys according to Chai.