Shop Talk

Tommy Hilfiger’s show at the Park Avenue Armory on Sunday must have achieved a new record -- for longest runway. Ever. It was like an airstrip, stretching out for what seemed like miles. 

But then, Hilfiger is an old hand at injecting some theatrical flair into what is, at heart, very traditional clothing. For fall, he borrowed heavily from menswear (not so surprising) and some mod elements...

For all the chatter about Zac Posen having once been the “enfant terrible” of fashion -- ohhh, his meteoric rise and, alas, mystifying fall (hey, the economy hit a lot of designers hard) -- Posen in many ways has a strong, traditionalist streak. Which may be why he’s managed to not completely go under, but eke it out season after season. Indeed, his dresses seem to be popping up on the red carpet...

Vivienne Tam celebrated the Chinese New Year at her Sunday night show with a Pop Art- and punk-inspired collection of graphic prints in bold colors -- black, red, white.

Take the first look, which spoke volumes of what was to come. The model wore a black jacket with leather sleeves and a “Pop Culture Obama” print -- that’s right, the president’s face multiplied many times over, as if in a...

The young designer Joseph Altuzarra looked to the street for inspiration this season.  As he explained in his program notes, the zigzag of skyline, the glint of pavement after a rain, the flashes of color from passing cars all found expression in this edgy, ultra-feminine collection.

Industrial zippers swirled around dresses and skirts like the tracks on a subway map, trimming panels...

Alexander Wang is not shy when it comes to taking his bow. It’s an odd phenomenon in the fashion world that so many of the designers of bold, brash, avante-garde clothes take the meekest of bows—they hesitate, take a mincing step forward onto the runway, give a half-hearted wave, then quickly escape to the safety of backstage. You wouldn’t think they’d be so shy. 

Shyness isn’t an issue...

Few young designers channel 1950s Hollywood glamour like Christian Siriano. When it comes to new New Looks, he leads the pack, and this collection is chock-full of examples. The liquid gold lamé blouse and pencil skirt. The metallic fuchsia tux jacket and matching cropped pant. A cocktail dress with gold sequin bodice and an explosion of layered black tulle beneath. 

There were simple...

Hervé Léger by Max Azria looked to nature for inspiration this season, and the abstract sculpture of Les Lalanne, a French husband-and-wife duo known for clever takes on animals and vegetation. 

Here are chic looks for the urban jungle: swingy bandage dresses with dazzling appliqués and beading, exotic matching leggings, cuff booties and the occasional leather harness layered on like...

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...