| M-B Fashion Week S/S 2012: A Sweltering First Four Days |
| Written by T. T. Moloney | |||
| Sunday, 18 September 2011 00:00 | |||
 Well it's the midway point of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 and all I can say is: "Help!" The late summer weather has been "triple H" (hot, humid and horrendous) and the only truly cool spot in the lobby at the Lincoln Center tents is just inside the main entrance where the lovely "Daily Girls" hand out the colorful (if inane) gossip broadsheet to starry-eyed newbies, wannabe fashionistas and cynical media types.
The loudest compalints heard from the fashion week regulars--both working folks and freeloaders--was the lack of a booze sponsor in the lobby, which would have gone a long way to mitigating the lethergy caused by the high humidity levels. The Kim Crawford wine bar space of the past two seasons was taken up by a UNICEF booth (of all things) and, no disrespect for the fine work done by that international organization, was hardly a substitute for four or five chardonnays or pinot noirs before sweating for 30 minutes or more in the next standing room line.
Even Starbucks with their "fortified" coffees was nowhere to be found. Although there was a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Arizona "healthy" teas and Kfir yogurt, both in its frozen and liquid state.
But so much for the negatives. As I kept reminding myself, the primary purpose of Fashion Week is not to wine, dine nor gift its attendees. It is about the designers and the fashion they create. And I must say the runway shows and presentations I attended during the first four days were all filled with beautiful, elegant clothing, from the emerging young designers featured in Thursday's Supima Design Competition in the Studio venue, to Sunday's "Gabonga Collection" by Custo Barcelona in the Stage, where, according to my invitation, "flat prints become volumetric...using 3-D techniques to create a visual experiment on the runway."
Other shows which dazzled my unsophisticated eye during the first half of Fashion Week included Tadashi Shoji, whose Stage show on Thursday paid tribute to "the splendor of the tulip;" the 33 silky and sexy looks of Luca Luca on Friday in the Stage; the 59 designs by fifteen talented graduates of the Academy of Art University in the Theatre on Friday evening; the bright sensuality of the Pink Tartan presentation on Saturday morning and the 42 looks of cotton, satin and silk dresses, suits and shorts by Son Jung Wan in the Studio on Saturday.
Also, the "Oriental Enchantment" presentation by Farah Angsana on Saturday, which included a kimono jacket inspired by a painting seen by the designer in a Shanghai gallery. Angsana's aim, according to the press notes, is to "dress women around the world with sophistication, elegance and seductive glamour."
"I wanted to transform the elements of a Zen garden into clothes," Vivienne Tam said backstage before her Theatre show on Saturday afternoon. "The patterns, forms, and the feeling of tranquillity and lightness."
On Sunday afternoon, 9/11, my first show, quite appropriately, was by the American designer Tracy Reese. According to Ms. Reese, "My Spring 2012 collection (of 45 looks) achieved a feminine yet relaxed mood through the juxtaposition of romance and sport, comfort and flattery...Subtle hues of khaki and black mixed with pastel shades of waterfall, misty blue and aqua tears gradually intensify to deep saturated tones...making a bold splash for the transition into summer."
The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was not formally commemorated in the Fashion Week tents, although, for the first time in my memory, a large American flag hung from the rafters near the lobby's front doors. The night before, "A Concert for New York: in Remembrance and Renewal" was performed by the New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert, Conductor) at nearby Avery Fisher Hall and was simulcast on a large screen in the plaza.
Undoubtedly many Fashion Week attendees, including myself, attended the concert or simulcast and recalled Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2002, which was cancelled following the destruction of the World Trade Center only two miles south of Bryant Park.
For more articles like M-B Fashion Week S/S 2012: A Sweltering First Four Days, please visit the NYC Stories Section of TimesSquare.com
|
