Talk of the Tents

Nicole Miller is swiping from her guy’s closet for fall. Not sure what he’ll be left with, but you’ll look solid, strong, sexy. And always feminine, whether you’re wearing one of her menswear-inspired jackets paired with a soft, gathered skirt, or a charcoal dress gently draped to one side.

It’s no Nicole show, of course, without the inventive, unstoppable prints, and there’s no way not to...

The Fashion Week blizzard was really picking up — somehow pelting fashion’s faithful with snow, rain and face-stinging hail all at once — as the Rag & Bone show began on Friday.  And maybe because of all that wet ruckus outside the runway seemed an oasis of quiet and cool. 

The R&B blokes — Brit-born Marcus Wainwright and David Neville — sometimes churn out collections...

It’s not very often a designer admits wanting to scare you. Well, not scare, but Yigal Azrouël certainly wants to give you goosebumps. His collection hints of “danger” and a “chilling allure,” he writes in his program notes. Wear this gear and you’ll appear intriguing, maybe a little intimidating, he seems to say.

Nowhere is this more apparent than his bold, brazen outerwear. A massive, burgundy...

Live music from the aptly named “Wild Club” band opened the packed-to-the-rafters Rebecca Minkoff show at the tents Friday afternoon, where the designer’s vision of “sophisticated grunge” was rendered in an appealing and delightfully quirky way.

More than grungy, there was a subversive note to Minkoff’s girls – school uniforms turned a little naughty: an elongated short in black leather, a...

At Carmen Marc Valvo’s stellar show on Friday at the tents, our seatmate, the celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch (a Long Islander, by the way), checked off the run-of-show like a grocery list.

“Ohhhh,” he swooned, over the show-opening coat comprised of black square patent leather tiles. “I need that coat on Tuesday for celebrity X who’s going to the Beyoncé premiere.”

And so it went, as...

Jason Wu has shown his collection downtown for the past few seasons but this time around he moved on up to Park Avenue to present his beautifully tailored, cohesive collection of sportswear and evening looks.

The irony of course, is that Wu, who famously dressed Michelle Obama for the inaugural ball twice, showed on Friday, in the very space where Oscar de la Renta, the go-to first lady guy...

While some designers went for more relaxed silhouettes on the first day of Fashion Week, Richard Chai Love’s polished runway was streamlined, tailored and all buttoned up. Chai explored neat military styles in shades of evergreen, pine and olive.

There were coats galore, among our faves a high-necked graphic floral parka. Menswear-inspired “speckled plaid” overcoats and blazers seemed a touch...

Candela designer Gabriela Perezutti said she was inspired by her father’s rustic poncho, romance and always Victorian elements. The result? Her 15-look presentation was a study in opposites.

A deer print knit vest with fox fur collar and cropped denim jacket was worn with a lace and chiffon pencil skirt. A chunky oversized knit cardigan was a topper for a delicate, lingerie-like, blush ruffled...

Oh, the choices in store for  BCBGMAXAZRIA gals next fall as Max and Lubov Azria drew inspiration from their travels to Istanbul and combined this with an eclectic gypsy flair  — so lovely, appealing and . . . wearable. Pile it on as shown on the runway — tunics and shifts over loose pants topped by sweaters and perhaps a patterned long fur vest — or, wilder still, a black tulle gown over...

Oh how prescient, with a major snowstorm on the horizon, that Tadashi Shoji opened his show at the tents on Thursday with a blizzard of snow projected on the runway. 

But Shoji was referencing those tough Russian winters and his muse was Russian royalty in this luxe, elegant show that seemed full of fresh ideas while still conjuring the Russian Empire. 

Of note, long...