From left, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Y-3Photo: Imaxtree.com
Proenza Schouler and Michael Kors were the critics’ kings yesterday. Today, reviews are pouring in for Vera Wang, Y-3, Calvin Klein, and Anna Sui. Did Vera’s Bolsheviks win the revolution? Or did Yohji’s sporty Y-3 score points?
Anna Sui
“Were those curtain swags decorating the hem of a minidress?” Yes, Style.com, they were. Inspired by interiors, Sui sent out dresses printed with irons, forks, clocks and armoires, Jacquard, and gold tassels “nicked from curtains in a Seventies-era lounge,” WWD sniped. Suzy Menkes called the mix “dense.” The collection was “more covered up” than usual, Cathy Horyn observed, and she wondered if that explained the downcast mood. Style.com missed the spunk of Sui’s earlier collections, a sentiment echoed by Horyn. But, as WWD noted, if you take away the “busy medley,” the clothes were on the kooky side of cute.
Watch a slideshow of the Anna Sui collection.
Calvin Klein
Francisco Costa’s fall collection was widely hailed as a success. Style.com raved about the “strong yet spare” show, which stayed true to the label’s minimalist ideals. WWD called it “a fresh, sexy show worthy of the house moniker.” Costa alternated between two silhouettes: loose and super skinny — dresses hugged every curve the models had. The dark palette gave the clothes “panache,” Fashion Wire Daily enthused, and went on to call the collection “super focused and brilliantly cut.”
Watch a slideshow of the Calvin Klein collection.
Y-3
One of the most anticipated of the season was set in Hunter College’s basketball court, with seating on bleachers. But high expectations were quickly dashed when the first, “bleak” look walked out (WWD). The dark dresses, the mohair sweaters — Yohji was in “a moody mode,” Style.com said. Fashion Wire Daily called the women’s shoes the “best innovations” of the collection. And though the clothes will no doubt sell next fall, WWD asked, “Can you blame us for wanting a bit more?”
Watch a slideshow of the Y-3 collection.
Vera Wang
The reviews are still coming in, but Vera Wang’s Bolshevik revolution was a success. Traveling back to early twentieth-century Russia for inspiration, Wang dressed her models in shearling, military jackets, tulle, stiff taffetas, and head kerchiefs. WWD called the result “absolutely breathtaking.” Style.com, while not totally in love with the layers, found “real beauty” in the individual pieces. And though the collection was dark, even somber, WWD found that “Wang’s melancholy bejeweled waifs couldn’t hide their true tsarist inclinations.” — in other words, these peasants are really princesses.
Watch a slideshow of the Vera Wang collection.
