Runway Feed

Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld was exultant. Twelve months of planning for Chanel's 2013 Cruise presentation and, the week before the big day, current events conspired to completely recontextualize the show, injecting a delicious layer of irony into the time and place. His succinct summation—"Versailles in a Socialist France"—said it all. Up until last week's election, which restored a left-wing government to power, Lagerfeld's collection was a gleeful mash-up of hip-hop edge—à la his favorite Azealia Banks or M.I.A.—and Louis Quatorze's eighteenth-century court at Versailles, the focal point of a period that history recognizes as France's last Golden Age, with Louis the Sun King at its pinnacle. Soundmeister Michel Gaubert dubbed the hybrid "Ghetto royale." He obliged Karl with an M.I.A. track whose refrain, "Live fast, die young/Bad girls do it well," might have been Marie Antoinette's musical signature if she'd lived a couple centuries later. She might even have joined Alice Dellal and Karla Lagerfeldas, who played an exuberantly retro-punk set at the post-show cocktail.

Lagerfeld has proved himself a master of this high-low hybrid in recent times. Here, formal eighteenth-century details, like panniers and fichus, were re-created in casual twenty-first-century fabrics—chambray, tech denims, even plastics—dressed up with frothy lace ruffles and cuffs, and dressed down with gold platform trainers and short shorts. Occasionally awkward though it may have been, the lightness, the girlishness, of the clothes had a balletic quality, reflective perhaps of Louis' own love of dance. Lagerfeld said he wanted something floating and frivolous. "Frivolity is a healthy attitude," he said after the show. "I know people who were saved by frivolity."

But the levity of that declaration was lent some provocative weight by the election. Clearly equating President-elect François Hollande's incoming government with a general shriveling of the French jeu d'esprit (although that is, in itself, something of a myth), Lagerfeld went on to say, "I don't want the rest of the world to think of France as a sad, gloomy country. They won't come to buy our products." A worrying prospect for someone who never fails to crowd his catwalk with an overabundance of clothing and accessories. "Too many ideas," wailed Inès de la Fressange jokily as she leaned in to bestow a congratulatory kiss. "Too creative." Lagerfeld glazed one tweed in gold, sequined another in pale blue, embroidered a tiny sundress with gold bullion, and applied the most delicate floral beading to snowy white handkerchief linen. Watercolor florals suggested Watteau maidens; male models Brad Kroenig and Jon Kortajarena were dressed in britches as their swains. "It's nothing that literal," Lagerfeld insisted, but the Rococo echoes added some charm.

The show took place around three of the furiously spouting fountains for which Versailles is famous. Guests then trained through the grounds to the cocktail at the Bosquet des Rocailles, where Louis staged theatrical productions. (Could it be true that Marie Antoinette's "farm," the private playpen where she'd go to play-act ordinary folks, was just through the trellised fence?) Speaking of imperial whim, look no further than the gall of the guy who persisted with plans for a ginormous outdoor spectacle while the heavens were blessing Paris with six weeks of nonstop rain. Guess what? Glorious Sol came out on cue. So who's the Sun King now?
—Tim Blanks

Bottega Veneta

"I always start with color first," said Tomas Maier, explaining his design process. "Color, then material, then shape." That attention to palette came through in his engaging new cruise collection for Bottega Veneta, which kicked off Resort season here in New York today. Inspired by the frescoes of Tiepolo and Veronese, the designer worked with shades of yellow, peach, and mint green, made all the more intense by the way he showed them top to toe in monochrome looks. The soles of a pair of bow-front pumps, for example, were the same bold shade of peach as their leather uppers, which in turn matched the cashmere double-breasted peacoat and wide-legged trousers.

As for materials, Maier looked toward the past and the future. On the one hand, a slim day clutch was made from a type of silk leather that the Italian house used in the seventies; on the other, the label's signature intrecciato bags were woven from a Japanese paper and metal and its large cabat bag from organic black rubber with aluminum embellishments. "If you don't want a leather bag, I don't understand why you want a fake leather bag," he said, and so he sought more original alternatives for the house's usual luscious skins.

Maier gets off on the intersection of the artisanal and the high tech, and he was in full control of the mix here. Clingy jersey gowns were fused with tiny beads rather than embroidered, and larger beads were knit directly into the seams of a pair of stretchy black dresses. There were innovations in terms of shape, too. Maier said he was thinking a lot about the weekend issue—as in, what does the BV woman want to wear on her days off? What he came up with was a pair of true-blue color-blocked tracksuits.
—Nicole Phelps

Daryl K

Daryl Kerrigan's decision to close her East Village store at the end of March after withdrawing from New York fashion week in February may have led some to believe that things were changing for the designer—and not for the better. But a preview of her latest Daryl K collection says otherwise. The Dublin-born industry vet's cool yet sophisticated aesthetic remains the same. "The downtown attitude that's synonymous with fashion has always been my signature look," explained Kerrigan. "Most of the things you see here have existed before." Still, every woman's day-to-day wardrobe requires a bit of sprucing up, Kerrigan's customer included, and the inspiration this time around was a "girl in a stable yard."

That vision translated into a tailored wool jacket with leather and velvet accents that was nipped in a bit at the waist, just the thing for pairing with Kerrigan's leather leggings, this time done in black with a contrasting red sideways stitch. Trousers are a thing for the designer, who has playfully dubbed her label "Pants-R-Us." New for Fall were a cropped leather boot-cut style and a wide-leg pair with a zipper detail. And for the girl who doesn't like pants? With this collection's silk "9 to 9" (as opposed to 9 to 5) dress, complete with an elastic waistband, Kerrigan's got her covered, too.
—Jessica Minkoff

MP Massimo Piombo

There's something enchantingly arcane about Massimo Piombo, gentleman, scholar, natural aristocrat, citizen of the world. All of that is in his collections, newly relabeled MP Massimo Piombo in light of some upsets that compelled his departure from the Business Formerly Known as Piombo. In that guise, Massimo galvanized a serious cult following, and there's no reason to think that MP won't keep the story humming along, especially because the clothes are now manufactured by Kiton. Which means Massimo's tendency toward eccentric extravagance is now tempered by peerless technique, a winning combination by any stretch of the imagination.

And it is imagination that separates MP from its classic-with-a-twist peers. The label may have changed, but Massimo insists there's been no change in his philosophy, which might best be defined as "around the world in 80 cloths." Hence, Irish tweed, Austrian herringbone, Italian oxford cloth (printed in Lyon, France), scarves in silk from India and mohair from Scotland, one coat trimmed with Moroccan embroidery, another cut from fabric woven in a Canadian mill that once made fabrics for L.L.Bean. A lot of history, so many stories. Massimo himself is something of a tale spinner, which is what you'd expect from an Italian dilettante who keeps his collection of books in a library on the shores of a Scottish loch. You might equally expect he'd be wearing a shawl-collared dinner jacket in Black Watch tartan as he paged through a precious tome. That's MP's most winning quality. Like Piombo before it, it opens doors into a world where the right amount of classic is infused with just enough exotica and a hint of aristocratic decadence. A recipe, perhaps, for aspiration.
—Tim Blanks

Vena Cava

Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock have new business partners in Li & Fung (the global trading group that backs Rachel Zoe, among other brands), but the arrangement hasn't altered their approach to their eight-year-old Vena Cava label. Young women familiar with the designers' modern-vintage sensibility will recognize the forties-by-way-of-the-seventies silhouettes—the strong shoulders, the high waists, the maxi lengths. Buhai and Mayock cited 1970's neo noir films, "even Drive," as inspiration this season, specifically those movies' "sunny facades and dark undertones." Mostly, though, the light won out here. The lineup's most resonant pieces came in a graphic floral print—vibrant yellow and turquoise on a ground of black. And there was optimism, too, in a black crepe tuxedo with big gold studs, the jacket of which featured a zip above the hips. With tails or without, the girl who wears it is practically guaranteed to be the life of the party. Tailoring plays a bigger role than ever in this VC collection, which should serve Buhai and Mayock well given the direction of the season as a whole. Still, it's their way with a little dress that's gotten them this far. For Fall, the standout comes in marigold, with a nipped waist and short sleeves.
—Nicole Phelps

Banana Republic

Day-to-evening dressing is hardly an original concept, but it's one that is particularly relevant for Banana Republic's practical yet polished customer who needs multitasking separates. At the Fall presentation last night, creative director Simon Kneen described the season as the time of year when women are perhaps returning from holidays and diving back into the hustle and bustle of their busy work and social schedules. They don't necessarily have the time or interest to decipher what's fashionable, so BR eliminates the guesswork, effectively repackaging the latest trends (the label has the big advantage of showing a month after the final Paris runways).

"It's all about the cropped trouser," Kneen said, gesturing toward the ankles on display. The best look included those cigarette pants, a slim turtleneck, and a double-face wool wrap coat—all done in au courant crimson. The label gets bonus points for the monochromatic color scheme. Other highlights included a selection of smart capelets trimmed in leather as well as faux fur pieces like a chubby vest cinched with a wide belt. Styled with tasseled clutches and broguish booties, the collection had an equestrian undertone. For the men, double-breasted car coats, shawl-collar sweaters, and tailored suits in heritage tweed and herringbone delivered a dapper message. All in all, it'll be difficult to go wrong with most of this lineup.
—Brittany Adams

Todd Snyder

"Emerging" demands context. When the CFDA Award nominations were announced earlier this month, menswear designer Todd Snyder found himself up for the Swarovski Award, given annually to an emerging designer. Snyder's label is now in its third season. Recent enough. His menswear career, on the other hand, is past its second decade, cruising toward a third.

Snyder is a veteran of Ralph Lauren and of J.Crew, where he was instrumental in steering the retailer from starchy prep to the weather-beaten, Americana look it is still honing and refining today. It's a look, in fact, that's had enormous purchase not only at J.Crew but in American menswear across the board, and it endures at Snyder's own line. What Todd Snyder lacks in shock of the new, in other words, he comes by honestly. He's been doing it since long before many of his competitors, whatever appearances may suggest. It's the name that's now emerging.

The look as Snyder describes it is American classic meets London's Jermyn Street: Workwear meets tailored elegance. Those words are threatening to disintegrate from overuse by men's editors. Suffice it to say in Snyder's case, details vintage (flatlock stitching on the sleeves of a waffle tee) and modern (a shirt placket slightly shrunk, shirt buttons slightly enlarged) serve to differentiate his collection from the crowd. So does its reasonable price point, thanks to global production at many of the same producers Snyder first discovered when working for the megabrands. That means leather jackets made in China but at factories that emphasize handwork; tailoring in collaboration with Southwick, the historic Massachusetts label now owned by Brooks Brothers. It's been a slow entrance to the market for Snyder, who left J.Crew in 2008. "I turned 40; it was time for me to pursue my dream," he said. Dreams and global financial meltdowns don't mix easily, hence the slight delay. But Snyder has proven worth the wait. "Emerging," at last.
—Matthew Schneier

Juicy Couture

Juicy Couture might be a bit like the most popular girl in your high school class. She earned a reputation for being uninhibitedly feminine and assertive—with a penchant for the color pink. But get to know her a bit better, and you'll realize that there's substance behind the Juicy girl's velour jumpsuit facade. Chief creative officer LeAnn Nealz has been working hard for several seasons to build up the contemporary label's fashion credibility, and there was plenty to be optimistic about at yesterday's Fall presentation, which drew a turnout of starlets including Emma Roberts, Kate Mara, and Anna Faris. Nealz described the youthful collection as "Sunset Strip in the seventies meets London mod squad." The eye jumped from printed paisley silk trousers to a peppy floral, slightly padded jacket with matching skinny jeans to a full-on Technicolor brocade pantsuit that hit on one of the season's biggest trends. Outerwear was a focus here, with swingy bell-shaped coats and faux fur capes adding a polished touch. Of course, Juicy nodded to its bread-and-butter leisurewear but smartly traded in those over-and-done-with sweats for leather track pants that we could imagine both casual Californians and their New York counterparts wearing for weekend errand runs.
—Brittany Adams

Tom Ford

Tom Ford has a lot of past to make peace with. He conceded as much following a showroom walk-through of his Fall collection during London fashion week. Perhaps the concession was due to his awareness that the strength of the clothes derived in large part from their echoes of former triumphs. Intense color, erotic edge, sensuous silhouette, sculptural hardware…ah, those good old Gucci glory days. But they're long gone, and the real success of this collection was that, for all the echoes, it didn't dwell. Instead, it was Ford's sharpest elucidation yet of his cinematic vision for women. "Russian spy," he laughed about the second-skin black leather looks accessorized with knee-length boots and huge shades. A black velvet column with a metal corset belt reminded him of Metropolis. There was some Bond girl in a leather jacket bonded with sheared beaver or a stretch tulle and feather column with sheer detailing, and a hint of noir heroine in a gray flannel suit with a tweed coat thrown over it, the whole outfit actually cut from cashmere. Gwyneth's Oscar cape and gown, Ford's own favorite from his collection, was Golden Age of Hollywood artifice at its most glamorously precise.

It was a reminder that Ford's speciality is the grand, almost theatrical gesture, in fashion at least. (His directorial debut was, by comparison, a delicate chamber piece.) Forget shrinking violet; this time you got chrome yellow and fire engine red, in fuzzy alpaca fur layered over black leather. Snake and crocodile were broken down to their component scales, which were painstakingly applied by hand to stretch jersey to make serpentine tops, dresses, and full-length sheaths. Effortful? Absolutely. But where that effort has been distancing up to this point—making the clothes easy to admire but difficult to like—it felt that, with this collection, Ford managed a critical switcheroo. His clothes used to wear his women. Now he's got it the right way round.
—Tim Blanks

Opening Ceremony

Two seasons in, it was tempting to wonder whether Humberto Leon and Carol Lim's commitment to Kenzo would suck any of the creative energy out of Opening Ceremony. But as the brand's latest outing proves, O.C. commands a seemingly bottomless reservoir of ideas. This wasn't necessarily a standout collection, but it was so full of the usual charm and so well stocked with desirable pieces that it would be mean-spirited to complain.

Typically, there was a lot going on here, with the key themes being chunky knits, felted wools, quilted and puffer-style outerwear inspired by Patagonia, sporty piping and color blocking, and a wide variety of metallics, including some very good metallic leathers. The real story, though, was texture. The Opening Ceremony team has developed a fetish for all things nubby and fuzzy: Fur made an appearance in the classic O.C. flare coat, and there were tufted fabrics everywhere. One of Lim and Leon's more interesting ideas was to use a fuzzy fleece material in tailored pieces such as a body-hugging dress with a mesh inset. The tactility extended to those chunky knits as well as to shiny brocades and pieces dappled with coinlike paillettes. Meanwhile, O.C. continued to explore Argentina, its country of choice this year, via gaucho pants and a winning painterly print abstracted from an aerial photograph of the Andes. All in all, this collection may have erred a little too much toward "cute"—Lim and Leon may indeed be saving their more sophisticated creations for Kenzo. Then again, given that Opening Ceremony just opened its second store in Japan, that was probably a canny, or perhaps kawaii, choice.
—Maya Singer

Kenneth Cole Collection

Kenneth Cole's company will be turning 30 next year, and the founder of the global brand is reflecting on its heritage with a new, higher-end line. "Kenneth Cole Collection is made for our same modern, urban customer," the designer explained at a launch preview last night, "but elevated in quality of construction, materials, and styling." The presentation at Cedar Lake featured life-size video installations of models along with recordings of their voices delivering the kind of bons mots that Cole has made his calling card over the years. "Some are attractive. Some are sexy. Few are available," said one. Highlights for women included a slick patent leather bomber jacket, deep oxblood haircalf pencil skirts and peplum belts, and a crocodile-print shift. On another exotic note, a cobalt blue python backpack was sporty chic at its best. The street-ready menswear had a slight military influence to it, seen in quilted wool parkas and lace-up leather boots. Few contemporary labels manage to strike the on-trend-but-not-too-trendy balance as well as Cole has here.
—Brittany Adams

Barbara Casasola

Barbara Casasola is an interesting case. She hails from Brazil and launched her label there three seasons ago. She lives in London. As of this season, she presents her collection privately in Paris. And yet, in some ways, she occupies a planet of her own. It's hard to think of another young designer specializing in formalwear who possesses her nerve to be simple: There's nary a bead or sequin to be found in her Fall '12 collection, which is composed largely of elongated dresses of an almost monastic cleanness. That sounds unappealing, but it's emphatically not. A veteran of Lanvin and Cavalli, Casasola comes at her clothes with a confidence in construction and a refined sense of detail; here, she deployed a bare minimum of tricks to conjure a collection that was sophisticated, sexy, and sui generis.

The most obvious trick was her architectural use of color and fabric—one dress in black and ocher, for instance, made a big impact just by setting its two high-contrast colors against each other in a coolly geometric way that flattered the curves of the body. Elsewhere, she used strapping, cutouts, and sheer organza to similar graphic ends. Closer inspection of the clothes likewise revealed the intelligence of Casasola's method—her signature stapled seams let some light, and some skin, into silhouettes that could otherwise have been forbidding, and she made luxurious use of fabric, draping it generously and eschewing side seams. Overall, the collection's affect was regal with a sporty kick—a tone pretty much unique in dress-up clothes. Casasola has emerged with a fully formed point of view; the only question is what she chooses to do with it.
—Maya Singer

Sophomore

Social magnet-turned-creative director Chrissie Miller is the kind of easygoing girl we'd love to karaoke with, and Sophomore's Fall video just might be the next best thing. In the two-minute short, a band of Miller's gal pals, including Jessica Stam, Lonneke Engel, and Cory Kennedy, take turns belting out Fleetwood Mac's sing-along staple "Dreams." The assorted group—let's just say there's a wide range of both musical talent and personal style represented here—models the downtown label's latest lineup of casual jersey separates. This season, Miller and head designer Madeleine von Froomer updated their standard T-shirts and maxi dresses with celestial screen-prints. Other mystical motifs included a Ouija board and one look that could be described as Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon cover meets the Star of David. Sophomore continues to add and experiment with pieces like a dip-dyed, washed silk tube skirt with a high slit as well as oversized henleys, but at the end of the day, fans come back to Sophomore for its novelty tees.
—Brittany Adams

Camilla and Marc

Maybe it has something to do with the way the seasons work down under, but Sydney-based designers Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman came to Fall '12 with a spring in their step. The new Camilla and Marc collection was positively giddy with color—never mind the somewhat obligatory blacks, of which there were plenty, because the standouts here were undoubtedly the dazzling floral print and hand-painted jacquard numbers. In large part, that had to do with the luxury of the fabrics: Freeman and Freeman-Topper have really exerted themselves, in terms of their materials, applying the floral print to silk cotton that had been pleated and fused and developing a wide-wale jacquard with an almost velvety texture. (They also developed a denim jacquard, which proved more compelling in person than it comes off in pictures.) The punchiness of the patterned items was nicely complemented by sculptural pastel dresses and the signature wide-leg Camilla and Marc trouser, this time turned out in hot pink, blush, and peach. The Freeman siblings didn't turn an entirely blind eye to the usual winter prerogatives, however; the shearlings this season were extra sharp-looking.
—Maya Singer

MM6 Maison Martin Margiela

MM6 Maison Martin Margiela, not unlike the house's signature collection, takes a humorous approach to fashion. In the Fall lineup, you'll find a dove gray sweatshirt with unique Fair Isle-patterned laser cutouts, light wash jeans with skinned-knee-proof leather patches, and a range of whimsical accessories featuring neon "scooby strings" accents that should bring you right back to the arts and crafts table at summer camp. But having a laugh is just part of the MM6 MO. The collection is chock-full of practical, multifunctional daywear. The bottom of a puffy parka coat, for example, zips off to create an alternative, cropped look; apparently, with a little imagination, you can also style the detached part as a scarf. The functionality extends to footwear, too. Another serviceable zipper transforms a pair of comfortable wedge booties into knee-high numbers. The only off note: exaggerated, thick wool pullover sweaters that seemed quite cumbersome compared to the collection's clever, utilitarian pieces.
—Brittany Adams

Rogan

As a general matter, Rogan and Chanel aren't brands with much in common. This season, however, Karl Lagerfeld and Rogan Gregory have found themselves plowing the same furrow, creating collections that are crystal-inspired and knitwear-focused. Weird. Anyway, if Chanel's extravaganza in Paris was the maximalist, über-luxury expression of those themes, the new Rogan collection gave us the affordable, minimalist flip side. The crystal reference was primarily elaborated here via brushstroke prints, the best of which was done in black and white on crepe georgette; Gregory played with layering the print against itself, creating palimpsest effects. That made for several striking pieces. Elsewhere, the standouts were the collection's draped knits, in particular a long, asymmetric skirt, and a clever halter-neck sweater that flashed decorous amounts of skin. Gregory's tailoring was also quite strong this time out, with taut dresses featuring paneled construction and natty takes on outerwear staples such as the trench and frock coat.

In terms of the men's collection, Gregory didn't do much to advance on his signatures. That said, his hemp cotton jerseys will find a lot of takers, and the plaited cotton shawl-neck sweater and low-waist short mac made for nice refinements of his relaxed take on urbanity.
—Maya Singer

Tucker

There's something insistently cheerful about Gaby Basora's line Tucker. Basora specializes in eye-popping prints, which she uses in easy-to-wear clothes, typically made from silk, that have a slightly vintage mien. She's leveraged that design strategy into a pretty booming business, and the psychology of the Tucker clothes has a lot to do with that: Basora makes pieces that, no matter how low a girl is feeling, are keen to paste a smile on her face. Bad breakup? Maybe it's this season's track pants in a pastel wallpaper floral that will do the trick. Job got you down? A tea dress in a bright doe print ought to cushion the blow of yet another endless spreadsheet. Rain again? Throw on a robelike coat in a painterly pink and purple print. Etc. Tucker collections are like a closet pep squad.

Do they need to be more than that? Not really. And Basora doesn't complicate matters by attempting any particularly challenging silhouettes. This season, she emphasized longer lengths and ladylike cuts and detailing. In general, with the exception of a tailored pencil skirt or a sleek silk jumpsuit, she erred—as usual—on the side of clothes that are eminently toss-on-able. Also as usual, she's done a grab bag of eye-opening prints, ranging from the trendily twee (that pastel floral) to a Marni-esque graphic check. All in all, a typically boisterous outing.
—Maya Singer

Surface to Air

It's never been just about the clothes at Surface to Air. Since its beginnings in 2000, the cult Parisian creative collaborative has offered its urban hipster clientele an appealing lifestyle brew that is equal parts fashion, music (S2A has partnered in recent seasons with artists like Kim Gordon, Kid Cudi, and Justice), interior design, and film. For brand founder Jeremie Rozan, the video he directed for the latest lineup is just as important as the merchandise itself.

Shot on a walkable roller coaster in Duisburg, Germany, and set to the Rapture song "Roller Coaster," the short film depicts a young couple chasing after each other along the ride's empty tracks. The girl is dressed like any insouciantly cool university student—picture, for example, Léa Seydoux in the 2008 French flick La Belle Personne. She wears rugged yet refined parka jackets, slick stovepipes, and platform sneakers from Fall. There are flashes of both grunge and glam in the form of beanie hats and Bowie-esque silver leggings. According to creative director Aldric Speer, the S2A customer never wants to appear as though her style is too studied or deliberate. She stays current by taking in new exhibitions and bands, instead of taking cues from the glossies. Still, the new collection nodded to a few of-the-moment trends, including coats and the still-happening varsity jacket.
—Brittany Adams

Jasmin Shokrian Draft No. 17

Jasmin Shokrian launched her main line ten years ago, and she used her Draft No. 17 collection this season to celebrate the anniversary. The clothes here were self-reflective in a witty way: Shokrian used trompe l'oeil-like color blocking on shift dresses to suggest old silhouettes and created a similar effect using sheer overlays on blouses. (A "Xerox" technique, she explained.) In essence, she was quoting herself.

But then, Shokrian is always sort of quoting herself: As a designer, she hews very close to her signatures, such as circular patternmaking, geometric color, and loose, cropped trouser silhouettes. This collection featured all of the above. But it was also atypically expansive, thanks largely to Shokrian's new emphasis on outerwear—a wool duster and burgundy anorak were particularly striking—and her focused detailing. To wit, the leather tie on a pair of karate pants, the petal collar on a button-down, or the slit up the back of a silk tee. She also turned out one seriously cool evening dress—a loose-fitting job in red that was cut down the front, up the leg, and along the side to make for a much sexier item than its shrugged-on silhouette would suggest. All in all, this collection proved that, after ten years, Shokrian hasn't run out of new tricks.
—Maya Singer

Wendy Nichol

Wendy Nichol operates her studio out of a room at the back of her Soho boutique—a room so petite, it's hard to believe the amount of stuff that comes out of it. Nichol designs jewelry and bags, and as of last season, clothes; the fact that she sees fit to spin all those plates out of a small, serviceable space is telling, somehow. Simply put, she doesn't have room for the extraneous.

The designer's new collection of ready-to-wear is thus appropriately concise. In general, she's focused on outerwear, all studiously well cut. A sharp black trench trimmed in leather, with a detachable lining embroidered in a crocodile pattern, was a standout; so too the blanket coat, with its high collar, and the fringed cream leather blazer. Elsewhere, Nichol refined and updated a few of her key silhouettes from Spring, including her apron dress and boyish button-downs. Her clothes don't jump out at you—even a sheer shirtdress in French lace had a quiet, almost monastic quality—but their details make them sing. To wit, that blanket coat, which was done in a very rich cashmere blend, trimmed in leather, and fully lined in wool taffeta. You get the sense that Nichol is so committed to keeping her range of product small because she wants to give each individual piece its due. That's an admirable stance.
—Maya Singer

United Bamboo

If there was one surefire hit in this season's United Bamboo collection, it had to be the neon green parka. Or maybe the cobalt blue parka. And possibly the orange one. Frankly, United Bamboo designer Thuy Pham is sick of making the damn parkas, as he admitted at a walk-through of the collection. But he keeps at it. "The people I know mostly want to wear clothes that are nice but, you know, a little boring," Pham said. "So I keep myself interested by playing with the details."

When Pham and his partner Miho Aoki get the details right—as they did, a few seasons back, with their now signature parka—they knock it out of the park. And there were more than a few looks here that, if not quite home runs, made for solid plays. Riffing off preppy—and more specifically, the way English punk kids wore their preppy school uniforms back in the day—Pham and Aoki turned out a number of strong, precisely tailored pieces in green and red plaids, and elaborated the theme in plaid knits. Super-dense and nicely oversize, the knits were a definite winner. Elsewhere, Pham and Aoki integrated some femme into the look with waterfall ruffles and microdot silks. The punchiest pieces were done in a hand-painted landscape print. Overall, as Pham would acknowledge, there was nothing too groundbreaking here, just a nicely twisted take on the conventional.
—Maya Singer

Sea

Competence is an underrated virtue. Surely we all keep a mental list of those people in our lives who just plug along quietly, demonstrating excellence on deadline. They come in handy, those folks. Count Monica Paolini and Sean Monahan among the competent ones: As the designers of Sea, Paolini and Monahan make clothes that are well made, well priced, and dependably appealing. They waste zero effort trying to be fashion stars and have built a sizable business pretty much on their own and almost completely under the radar.

Anyway, they've earned some kudos. This season's Sea collection was a predictably solid affair, composed largely of easy-to-wear patterned knits and silk pieces in a variety of scarf prints. There was a new emphasis on handknits and outerwear, all of which served to further elaborate Sea's tomboy-cute aesthetic. A few pieces stood out as really special: A boxy coated canvas coat, for instance, had a directional slickness; ditto the micro-pleated leather skirt. Meanwhile, the folk Russian scarf print in dark jewel tones looked rich, especially so in a simple tank with a ruffled hem. These pieces and others suggest that Monahan and Paolini are ready to rise to the challenge of refining their line and attacking it with a bit more ambition.
—Maya Singer

Creatures of Comfort

Creatures of Comfort impresario Jade Lai has made impressive strides since she launched her store's namesake brand in 2010. Initially, the Creatures of Comfort label comprised ultra-basic jersey pieces plus a smattering of long skirts, appealingly awkward jumpsuits, and buttoned-up button-downs that hit the nail on the head of the then emergent mumsy hipster aesthetic. (Think Alexa Chung.) This collection, Lai's sixth, proves that Creatures of Comfort has grown up and grown out: Though she still has her finger on the Bedford Avenue/Shoreditch High Street pulse, Lai has broadened her clothes' appeal. To wit, the tailored shorts and trousers in a luxe silk wool blend were accessibly sophisticated; the pieces in white, in particular, looked really chic.

Elsewhere, she's added a flirtatious note, with schoolgirl minis, fitted knits, and peekaboo dévoré velvet polka dots. (The dots were a theme; the collection included a variety.) There was still a sense here that Lai remains overfond of the purposefully awkward silhouette—some of her dresses were a touch shapeless—but she's gotten better at adding the grace notes that give a covered-up look verve. On a simple shirtdress, for instance, the dropped waist counted for a lot; likewise the waterfall effect on a dotted mid-calf skirt. Here's hoping that Lai doesn't outgrow her awkwardness entirely—it's idiomatic to the Creatures of Comfort brand and the reason the most straightforward pieces in this collection still stood out. But it's nice to see her giving her ugly ducklings permission to be swans.
—Maya Singer

Markus Lupfer

What with his affection for loudmouth graphics and his co-dependent relationship with his BeDazzler, Markus Lupfer sometimes gets written off as a young person's designer. Now, the kids do love Markus—and chances are they're the customers keeping his line in the black—but Lupfer's latest outing deserves a look-see from grown-up girls, too. The best part of the new collection comprised tailored dresses, cigarette pants, and circle skirts made from rich, jewel-colored brocades and cut with a sporty mien. The material played well with Lupfer's black leather looks and slightly hallucinogenic oil-spill print, too. Per usual, the collection wasn't short on punchy knits—sequined, this time out, in sayings like "Carpe diem"—and they gave the collection some of that signature Lupfer comic kick. All in all, though, this felt like a pretty sophisticated affair.
—Maya Singer

Collette Dinnigan

Collette Dinnigan opened her show to Blondie's "One Way or Another," an indication that the designer's usual prettiness was getting a punk makeover. The tip panned out, but for the most part it was the result of styling (though a little silver beaded shift did give you an edgy Joan of Arc-meets-Balmain vibe). Dinnigan finished her parade of dresses with the wayward touch of little back-seamed lace socks dotted with winking crystals and slouched into killer studded Louboutin pumps.

"This stuff can all get a bit too ethereal-fairyland, and it's like floating in too much mystery," she explained after the show, which was curiously called Fairy Tale. But some tales are more believable than others. Mystery was kept to a minimum in Dinnigan's mostly un-tricky silhouettes that let the material and embellishment speak for themselves.

And they did. No amount of the Undertones and Garbage on a soundtrack can distract from the fact that these dresses are made from exquisite stuff, particularly the custom laces. Check out the perfectly engineered placement of scallops on Dinnigan's lace tees, and the polka-dot motif at the hem of a dress that echoed the paillettes at the neckline. One aberration was the woolly yarn-loop embroidery that would appear to be a nod to winter in this rather un-wintry collection, but felt a bit crafty and wrong in this context. To stay warm, a better choice was the velvety black coat with a barely there trim of lace petals on the pockets and back. It's the kind of thing that might be chosen by Stevie Nicks—a woman who knows how to work romance with a different brand of darkness.
—Meenal Mistry

Miu Miu

The big message at Miu Miu was pantsuits. "After years of skirts, they're the one thing I find exciting at the moment," Miuccia Prada said after her show. She wore the black astrakhan two-piecer with the purple crystals that Magdalena Frackowiak modeled in her Prada show two weeks ago. Fresh off his own second show of the season, Marc Jacobs offered her congratulations and told her how great she looked.

On the runway, the cuts were more butch: Oversize men's jackets and high-waisted floods were paired with seventies collared shirts, frilly ties, and clashing ascots, and came accessorized with chunky belts and even chunkier loafers. As for the suit fabrics, they ranged from street-ready solids with a bit of a sharkskin sheen to only-for-the-bravest Art Nouveau-ish florals. Some jackets had this season's capelike back.

Will Miuccia's pantsuits generate excitement in Miu Miu fans? Tough to say; they love their dresses. Then again, the matching-print pantsuit is one of Fall's key trends. Either way, the show ended with an insurance plan: tiny A-line dresses affixed with mirrored appliqués big enough to see your reflection in.
—Nicole Phelps

Elie Saab

Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo wore a mint green couture confection by Elie Saab at the Academy Awards last month. With that feather in his cap, the designer put the accent on daywear today. Urban Elegance was the name he gave the collection. For the most part, it was as gray as the skies have been all week here in Paris, but it offered more variety than you usually find on a Saab runway.

The oversize tailoring that has dominated other catwalks this season isn't this designer's thing. His skirtsuits and sheaths are cut to fit, with hourglass color-blocking made to further enhance a woman's shape. A dove gray one-sleeved blouse looked simple and chic tucked into high-waisted black pants. Saab is a little less sure-handed when it comes to prints: The bronze tree branches on both knee-length and to-the-floor numbers looked busy.

For evening, Saab showed some sparkly emerald green column gowns followed by a few more in gold or silver sequins. A couple of the slits extended dangerously high up the leg—that's the wrong kind of exposed lingerie. But presumably, details like that will be sorted out before the dresses make their inevitable way to Hollywood.
—Nicole Phelps

TRIAS

Inspired by the American sculptor Leonardo Drew's moody and textured work, Joaquín Trías was feeling apocalyptic for Fall. However, Trías, a former tennis player turned self-taught designer, has the bouncy enthusiasm of a golden retriever. It's hard to imagine him having a dark day, let alone enough fodder for an end-of-days collection. Perhaps that accounted for the somewhat mixed result.

A big part of the story was a play of textures, as in the double-face Japanese tweed backed with crinkle cotton, which had a nice homey chic. A black foil-printed chiffon with a zebra print, on the other hand, might have seemed like a good idea, but in practice felt a bit girls-night-out cheap. Trías played it off straightforward chiffon in dresses with petal sleeves and waist-exposing cutouts. There was yet more slicing and dicing; Trías, after all, has a hazily architectural ethos. The problem is that it's not always convincing, for instance in the little black dress that came wrapped with a sort of asymmetrical lamé half-shrug.

The buttery black leathers—Trías tapping into his Spanish heritage—were easily the high point, particularly in a pencil skirt with whipstitch detail snaking up the side. But there was nothing you couldn't live without, and nothing you couldn't find elsewhere. Often, TRIAS collections seem to end up between being "just clothes," with little defining purpose or customer, and arty pieces that seem to satisfy their creator's ego more than relate to what women want to wear. Last season, Trías decided to start showing in Paris instead of New York, but without a sharp point of view that decision seems like pure indulgence.
—Meenal Mistry

Louis Vuitton

How do you follow up a merry-go-round? If you're Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, you get your people to build an old-fashioned train car. From scratch. The steam engine it was attached to pulled into the Cour Carrée a few minutes after ten this morning. One by one, Jacobs' models de-boarded wearing outfits straight out of the golden age of railroading, followed by porters carrying as many as three bags per girl. The news on the bag front this season is their oversize proportions and exotic fabrications. "It's just a trip," Jacobs said afterward, but you could tell even he was chuffed by the grand spectacle of it all.

Longtimers in the crowd remembered a John Galliano couture show for Dior, the one where a train stuffed with supermodels steamed its way into Paris' Gare d'Austerlitz. The more interesting echo today was with Miuccia Prada's show in Milan, where she too put skirts, dresses, and coat-dresses—likewise embellished with enormous crystals—over cropped pants and platform pumps. Here, as there, the elongated silhouette created by all that layering was quite strong—Stephen Jones' squashed hats added a good six inches of height.

Even if the look didn't strike you as a modern proposal, there was plenty to marvel at, from the kangaroo leather swatches patchworked together into a checkerboard of matte and shine to the kaleidoscopic application of holographic baubles on brocade. Only a house with the high-techiest technologies at its disposal could pull off that kind of embroidery.

During a post-show interview conducted on board the train, Jacobs said he was interested in "things looking like they were from another time." The exhibition Louis Vuitton—Marc Jacobs, opening at Les Arts Décoratifs tonight, which tells the tale of the two men's contributions to the megabrand, clearly had Jacobs thinking about the company's nineteenth-century origins and travel heritage—and how to make the synergistic most of them.

Fifteen years into his tenure at Vuitton, he's not just one of the world's most fanciful designers and extraordinary showmen, he's also a damn smart businessman.
—Nicole Phelps

Kanye West

Kanye West can't wait to carve his niche in the fashion hierarchy. At least that's how his choice of show venue—the same space Alber Elbaz used to celebrate a decade at Lanvin a few days earlier—translated to some skeptics in tonight's audience. And, truth be told, skepticism was rife after West's inauspicious Paris debut as a designer last season. But the element of surprise has always been one of the secret weapons of his music, and it popped up in his sophomore fashion effort by simple virtue of the fact that West won a much-improved badge.

He reduced his first collection's profligacy to a more concise statement in leather, velvet, and astrakhan, most often in black and always wrapping a legging or pencil-skirted lean silhouette. It was a declaration that West is learning self-discipline in design, and he amplified it aggressively with the martial music, the harsh makeup, the gladiatorial footwear, the odd croc collars. The show's tight edit left little room for anything beyond this core statement, but the hard edge still had some light and shade: the use of dévoré, for instance, the more relaxed sweatshirt shapes, and the clutch-coat decorum of the final outfit.

West unleashed his showmanship with a finale that featured gothic go-karts speeding out of the darkness of the Halle Freyssinet. Later, Azealia Banks performed at his party, just as she had at Karl Lagerfeld's dinner a month or so ago. Like Lagerfeld, West has always known how to make worlds collide, in his music, at least. How that talent might translate into an asset for his fashion remains up in the air.
—Tim Blanks