Talk of the Tents

There was a luxurious ease to Francisco Costa’s Calvin Klein collection – the last big show of fashion week on Thursday -- reflected in gracefully curved hourglass shapes that embraced the body but didn’t strangle it. The designer employed suspension tailoring to sculpt the architectural lines which were enhanced by shiny hammered silver belts at the waist, and while the look was extremely modern,...

Models dressed in three-piece Glen plaid suits wearing top hats and carrying walking sticks heralded Ralph Lauren’s “Downton Abbey” moment. The PBS TV hit set in the early 1900s England is about the lives of aristocrats and their servants. Lauren went so far as to include the score from the show as runway music.

The designer, who is fascinated by the heritage and romance of England, played...

The gals at Marchesa – Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig – went to heaven for inspiration for their ethereal collection by way of an angelic painting entitled, “A Soul Brought to Heaven,” by William Adolphe Bouguereaus. A photograph of the work accompanied the program notes at their glamorous runway show at the Plaza Hotel Wednesday evening.

The wow-factor was off the charts at this swoon-worthy...

When the lights come up for Proenza Schouler’s Fall 2012 runway show, they’re bright white—over the runway and the audience. This is one of the hottest tickets of the week, and if you wondered who else showed up Wednesday night at this event space under the High Line, well, now’s your chance to look around. The fluorescent glare bearing down from above is unavoidable, and there’s nothing but the...

Anna Sui shows can often be like your favorite roller coaster ride—full of exuberance, colorful highs and lows, and a certain…familiarity.  We’ve been on this track before, you see, so we know basically what to expect—the crazy, kitschy prints, dizzying color combos, a whole lotta babydoll dresses.

Not this time.  Oh, it’s kitschy, colorful and eccentric, all right, but also…elegant. ...

Fiona Cibani’s collection for Ports 1961 sprang from a fascination with the Old World art of glassblowing.

That artisanal tradition started in Northerm Italy but it doesn’t mean Cibani’s churning out striped Gondoliers’ tees. She just uses it as a jumping off point.

Like blown glass, the pieces in her line have long, flowing shapes and, in some cases, sheen. A series of ottoman jackets...

A fashion show…for Levi’s. Seems like an oxymoron, no? After all, isn’t Levi’s sort of…beyond fashion?

Levi’s, the brand , as we all know, is an icon here in the U.S.—or like oxygen, just something we breathe in without thinking. Doesn’t almost everyone have at least one pair (or 15) in their closet?

Icon or no, Levi’s needs to stay relevant, and so the brand organized a fashion show...

“Feminine and full of texture,” said program notes at J. Mendel on Wednesday afternoon, where Gilles Mendel, the designer, presented a runway collection inspired, he said, by the Spanish architecture of Gaudi.

The first few looks in white fit the bill: stunning in their lightness but substantial. A multi-fur sleeveless coat belted and worn atop a pleated crepe skirt with – get this -- leather...

Nanette Lepore banned black from her runway on Wednesday afternoon – there wasn’t a lick it of it despite the prevailing trend. In its place fiery orange, cobalt and chartreuse turned out in whimsical pieces with a gypsy vibe (she was inspired by Tarot cards) and a vintage look.

The result? Sweet, easy wearing frocks -- an especially good sheath with a dotty pattern and a lacy sweater dress...

Outdoorsy types and fashion lovers collided on Michael Kors' ruggedly elegant runway at his Wednesday morning show where rustic yet swanky outerwear pieces starred. Offerings ranged from red-and-black checked blanket coats to striped ponchos to gigantic alpaca fringed sweater coats (one of these the biggest coat we’ve ever seen, ever) to fur…and lots of it, including coyote and fox. Quite frankly,...