If the droopy smurf tuque was the official hat of the Fall 2013 shows (that happened back in February), then the hot head seen at New York Fashion Week Spring 2014 wears the felted hat, either an iteration of the floppy seventies version (Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver) that Hedi Slimane brought back at YSL, or a trilby.
The chunky wooden heeled platform sandal vs. the classic suede stiletto (often coloured) vied for preferred front row shoe as shown here at Suno on Laura Brown, Harper’s Bazzaar Executive Editor and Toronto-born-and-bred Market Editor Joanna Hillman (and one of the few street style stars who took up the purple gauntlet thrown down by designers last February, to grapelicious effect).
Suno was one of those shows you felt glad to be at rather than just surf through online because the best pieces got their élan from subtle texture shifts. They showed their familiar match clash patterning, with standout prints including zebras stampeding over stripes, and giant not-campy daisies.
But they also invented a creature of their own, using embossed metallics and Swarovski crystals on boxy Acne-influenced shapes: The sixties super hostess meets Hollywood glamourette meets hipster meets gallerina, below.
But my favorite was this elegant jacquard two piece brought down to earth with the Nicholas Kirkwood neo-Teva.
The Suno woman is a distant relative to Ms. A Détacher, which, as my October editor’s letter suggests, is one of my credit card weak spots. These are clothes that make people scratch their heads: Is she a Montessori teacher or some high-ranking member of the creative class? They are thinky/arty clothes without doing away altogether with sexiness. Like this dress with a crochet net waist reveal.
Or this Alaïa-esque bathing suit, below, (all the bathing suits were brill) with muted cornflower loop knit cardie.
It’s particularly fascinating to see the A Détacher tribe at the show, whose front rows, filled with friends of crazy cool eastern European designer Mona Kowalska, don’t resemble any others at Fashion Week, and are always filled with children.
Both Suno and A Détacher are at the opposite ends of the spectrum from Jason Wu. Montrealer Jessica Paré declared the silky, corset backed dresses and jackets, “So beautiful, so feminine.”
Won’t she look terrific on the red carpet in this dramatic Wu finale?
Trends so far:
Safari, more pretty plaid for spring, lightweight day jumpsuits and short jumpsuits, muted blues, t-shirt blouses
