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Against the backdrop of Hurricane Hanna, Lacoste squeezed in some sunshine, Charlotte Ronson showed she can dress too and ThreeASFOUR brought some comic relief on the second day of New York Fashion Week.
In Bryant Park, the thumping heart of New York Fashion Week, the brown leaves were swirling and 20 pairs of ruby slippers flew into town.
Those shoes were a fashion tribute to the Wizard of Oz, which turns 70 next year, but it was a hurricane — rather than a tornado — that threatened to put a damper on fashion week's second day.
But fashion folk — accustomed to daily sharp-as-a-knife put downs — are hardy people ... who own Wellington boots. And thankfully, the warren of white tents at Bryant Park housing most of the Spring/Summer shows withheld the 50mph winds and gallons of rainwater dumped on the city by Hurricane Hanna.
Melting sorbet
The day started off with a freshly squeezed dose of Riviera sunshine, courtesy of Lacoste. With the sound of cicadas chirping in the background, designer Christophe Lemaire sent out his tribute to Brigitte Bardot and all those who lived the good life in '60s Nice: belted, loose beige dresses and crochet bikinis.
The boys were a Dolce Vita version of Brideshead Revisited, all rumpled cafe-au-lait jackets and pretty-boy hair.
The second act was a melting sorbet of mango polo shirts, pop-art shift dresses and capri pants, with models walking out in groups of two or three, like the giggling gossip girls Lemaire is courting with his loosened-up preppy looks.
Boys' jackets looked like waiters' coats — which will no doubt please all those moneyed Lacoste buyers who belt their style with a thick layer of irony.
Celebrity draw
The day's biggest show, in terms of celebrity draw, at least, was Charlotte Ronson's. The twin sister of Lindsay Lohan's squeeze Samantha, Charlotte's the designer making clothes for wannabe Molly Ringwalds everywhere.
With her, the era of the strapless dress over a t-shirt look is alive and kick-stepping to a Lily Allen track.
What will LiLo be wearing next summer, if the Ronsons have anything to do about it?
Highwaisted white jeans with hip-length cardigans, nautical stripes or a little dress; grey with a leaf print for the bruisers, pink one-shouldered floral for the girls among you. You know who you are.
Loving laughs
The rain only intensified as the evening wore on, and thus it was the fashion faithful who made it downtown for an off-calendar show by ThreeASFOUR.
The crowd, possibly exhausted by the storm, was subdued through Spirograph-patterned swimming costumes and silk cover-ups, but warmed up to silver dresses with trompe-l'oeil waistcoats and a sheer top made of innumerable layers of quivering silk.
Ever wondered what a thousand flakes of mother-of-pearl sound like? ThreeASFOUR drew honest, loving laughs from their adoring audience of hipsters when they sent out a full length dress covered entirely with round capiz shells, bringing a much-needed dose of comic relief to the event. Spotted backstage: Indie director Vincent Gallo, exiting with a model.
Fairy tale inspiration
Is that the trickle of a mountain stream over the soundsystem? Or a torrent of rainwater pouring down the side of the tent?
It was hard to tell at Verrier's show, where the doll-like dresses were inspired by fairy tales and Bambi-like woodlands.
Modern Alice-in-Wonderlands strode the runway, their hair teased and their white short-shorts just a tease, with bows on the rears for added cuteness. (Those bows cropped up, just as cute but slightly more office-appropriate, on the backs of shrunken jackets.)
Parson's designer of the year winner Ashleigh Verrier's candy-floss dresses were just made for jumping down rabbit holes, and the child-woman theme continued with a pale blue shift with a bib front.
A more grown-up version saw the bib transported to a sheer pink blouse and burgundy skirt.
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