“It [Derek Lam] really touches on a femininity that is grown up and very self-aware. It is competent, not an ingénue, intelligent but not overly intellectual, more emotional. The collection has a modern point of view, but always looks to the past.”

“Derek Lam's show felt as if it were set in a funeral home, with the walls and runway shrouded in black; and the models, some wearing lace blindfolds, were dressed for a party in Monte Carlo, where they would sneak upstairs to crack a safe with David Niven. I'm not saying it was a dark collection, but the word black appeared in Mr. Lam's program notes 88 times—and there were only 44 looks.”

“Going back to the craft of dress and clothes making [is] … a very important element in each garment that I design. Obviously, as seasons go forward, that evolves.”