Talk of the Tents

Show notes at Diane von Furstenberg’s afternoon show at the tents on Sunday opened this way, “Some fairy tales end with the girl marrying the prince…some start there.” What happens next? The princess (who has the heart of a Gypsy, by the way) travels from Rome to Marrakech and in fairy tale fashion, ends up, “far from the palace now…she is the woman she wants to be.”

First off, anyone who...

Gigantic images of Watusi dancers, flowers and leaves interchanged with skyscrapers, oil rigs and highways flashed at the back of Tracy Reese’s runway show at the tents on Sunday afternoon, underscoring her vision for spring: a “mash-up” — her word — of organic fabrics colliding with technical ones. It was all about juxtaposition — soft and structured silhouettes, sporty and feminine garments.

Known...

An enormous photograph of a city street was the backdrop for the spunky, citified runway romp at DKNY. Pre-show, Donna Karan said, “It’s 100 percent New York and 100 percent DKNY. I would wear everything in this collection.” And so would many.

The color scape here was classic Donna: black, white, silver and a blaring pop of taxi yellow. For spring, loads of essential wardrobe pieces, such...

Dreaming of a Hawaiian vacay but stuck in the city? Rebecca Taylor’s spring 2013 collection will solve the dilemma. With its perfect balance of hard and soft — a denim vest over an ivory Hawaiian floral-studded collar dress — a turquoise leather moto vest over a bralette — Taylor’s polished collection is the solution for the urbanite with far-flung fantasies.

The designer didn’t go for a cliché...

If you’re not familiar with the name Joseph Altuzarra, you soon will be. This is one of those up-and-comers who — certainly after this show — has pretty much up and come. Winner of this year’s coveted CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear, the diminutive designer proved with this latest collection that he not only has a great sense of proportion but can strike a nice balance between elegance, whimsy...

If you squinted your eyes and let your imagination run wild, there were times you’d almost have believed that Monique Lhuillier’s models were swimming down the runway, not just merely walking it.  For spring, the French designer was inspired by water and sea life, and her cocktail dresses and gowns are awash in rich, watery prints, some iridescent and sequined so they sparkle like glints of...

It was a booming voice that came over the loudspeakers just before the start of the Alexander Wang show, asking the crowd to “refrain from using flash photography.”  A slight pause, then: “That includes cellphones.” 

Seriously?? 

Why not just ask this crowd to stop breathing?  Or to shop at Wal-Mart.  Either would be more conceivable than that unusual request,...

Hervé Léger by Max Azria touted in the show's production notes that we'd be taken on a sultry Southern tour, with embroidery, patchwork and appliqué, all inspired by “the remarkable women of Gee's Bend, Alabama,” who are known for their stunner quilts. They're less known for their dominatrix garb — just guessing here — but maybe Azria knows something about those sweet ladies that we don't.

This...

With a color story as soft as a whisper, Jill Stuart conjured old-time Hollywood and easy glam with her seductive and feminine lingerie-inspired collection shown at the Lincoln Center tents on Saturday.

Here, there were delicate white lace dresses with leafy patterns, some with high ruffled necks and flower appliqués. A black tuxedo jacket topped tap pants with lace insets — a pretty sultry...

In a flight of fancy that was slightly surreal and off-kilter gorgeous, Prabal Gurung’s cocktail-party clothes for Spring 2013 seemed almost (dare we say it?) comfortable. And confident ladies won’t mind a bit that the collection isn't melted onto their bodies and won't necessarily show off all the hours they’ve put in at the gym. In fact, this collection goes quite the other way – concealing the...