Fave Looks: Rachel Antonoff Spring 13

1.29.2013

The Rachel Antonoff presentation for Spring 13 was off the racks cuteness kingdom.  Like walking into a storybook Secret Garden filled with models having a picnic, eating fancy cake, playing badminton and all other sorts of whimsy fun.  The models were wearing a lot of feminine and sporty silhouettes.  Tennis inspired skirts and dresses that were fitted and flared.  The seersucker fabrics definitely gave it that preppy flare on a sun-filled spring day. A super cute tee that says “I am With Her”.  Yes please.  A lot of red, white and blue colors filled the room feeling very patriotic.  Red and white stripes paired with blue and white stripes for a mis-matchy but totally matchy feel. I adored all the hand embroidered of names in red and blue that decorated the tennis shoes + sweatshirts. Antonoff used the first names of the girls that inspired her like Lena Dunham and Hailee Steinfield.  Giving it the “cool girl club” vibe.  The Bass Hearts RA shoes were “I must have all” collection. With jelly style sandals, and also jelly style oxfords…I give it a 10!

Fave Looks: Alice + Olivia Sp13

1.21.2013

Walking into the Alice + Olivia Spring 13 collection was like walking into a set of Miami Vice for me.  But actually the Designer Stacey Bendet behind the A+O collection was inspired by optimism and prosperous decade of the late 50’s. She looked into work by Artist Llya Botolowsky, who studied under the Artist Piet Mondrian. Where he adopted the use of vertical and geometric pattern into his work as well as the high use of primary colors mixed with more muted and pastel colors.  The A+O collection had an explosion of primary colors that filled the room, along with sweet pastels.  A sequin yellow dress, cobalt blue and red prints along with grass green lace and shimmery soft pastels.  My eye was drawn to the tiny Lucite clutches filled with colorful candies to really make a statement of color. I fell in love with a little cardigan with a pop art face on it of a heavily mascara eye and big bright red lips.

Fave Looks: Orla Kiely Spring 13

9.19.2012

If she’s known for anything, Orla Kiely is marked by her young at heart vibe. It was no surprise, then, to see a mini Van Leeuwen truck parked in front of her Mercer Street store.

Further approach yielded more fun-at-heart quark: in the back of the store, there was a hippie style rv turned video viewing booth, and the sounds of Tennessee Thomas playing 60s jams and French pop filled the room.

Fashion Week is typically known for its breakneck pace and non-stop busy mode. But for the first time ever, I understood the Corona ads where people step out of the office and onto the beach. The store transported me and it was full on blasting a sunny and fun vibe that put me right into vacation mode. I grabbed a PIMMs cup and sipped my way through the collection.

Of course everything was very Orla Kiely replete with sixties inspired silhouettes and prints, sprinkled with a strong but nuanced touch of 50s Cocktail silhouettes throughout. A strong collection continued with an assortment of shift dresses including one that was crocheted. Some of the neater details were scalloped collars and sophisticated bow detailing on dresses and handbags. Travel was clearly part of her inspiration in this collection, and I’m not being artsy or profound when I say that: the assortment literally included the world’s cutest mini airplane prints and sailboats print displayed in a number of color patterns including Neapolitan (of course). Fabrics included both a white sheer 1960’s graphic flower in a sporty tee and a flirty skirt. The collection popped with colors of grass green, sherbet pink, lipstick red, navy blue, and white.

I left wanting just about everything in her collection, and a vacation. But as they say during Fashion Week, I’ll sleep (and vacation) when I’m dead!

(photos via Bradbury Lewis)