Texture big at NY Fashion Week 2011

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 - 1:43 am - Entertainment Ideas

sizzled with sexiness even with the high necklines, long lengths and layering. It’s because she knows how to cut clothes so they hit the wearer in all the right places, said stylist June Ambrose from her front-row seat at the MAC & Milk studio.

“See everything here? It’s simple, sexy and drapes the body — and she knows how to cut something on the bias,” Ambrose explained.

It was the bias-cut silhouettes and the multiple uses of satin that gave the clothes a lingerie feel, but not in a structured, corseted way. Theallet favored the wrap robe that almost becomes undone, or the slip that no one else was supposed to see.

There was a Bonnie and Clyde theme to the raw-edge pantsuits and scarf-neck shirtdresses, emphasized by the berets worn on the models’ heads.

RACHEL ROY

She concentrated on layered silhouettes because key pieces in a modern, working woman’s wardrobe are what she’s always reaching for.

“The collection started — inspiration-wise — from an eclectic mix of layering — layering of textures, prints and saturation of color,” she explained. “I’m trying to show a woman for fall-winter to work with different pieces that I’m suggesting or what’s already in her closet.”

Mixing textures and new colors, including rust and turmeric with the navy and black standbys, can bring new life to familiar silhouettes. “I’m attracted to opposites and balances,” she said.

Michelle Obama has been wearing Roy’s clothes quite a bit lately, including the State of the Union address last month. The first lady might consider further evolving her belted cardigan look with the short midnight-blue kimono jacket.

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ

Layering and luxury are a strong presence, but one look at the pieced-together coats and dresses with exposed seams and structured silhouettes, and it couldn’t belong to anyone else.

The other giveaway were Rodriguez’s longtime friends and fans Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld in the front row.

“Narciso kept to his chic minimal aesthetic,” said Nicole Fritton, Harper’s Bazaar market director. “The silhouette was streamlined and the palette graphic — he always evokes sleek modernism.”

The outerwear was among the strongest looks, especially the reversible wool ones with long, lean lines. Fur was used sparingly, but more so than usual, ramping up the glamour.

He experimented a bit with a splatter-graffiti print that looked fresh.

Rodriguez used the contrast of lightness of sheer overlays against more form-fitting base layers to fuel the sex appeal.

RODARTE

Sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy hit on more straightforward styles that can translate to the street. They found them in the Heartland.

Several gowns had a windblown wheat print at the hem, with the rest of the dresses catching different moments of the sunset.

Seem crazy? It’ll all make sense when front-row guest Kirsten Dunst or one of the Mulleavys’ other celebrity fans turns up wearing one at an event.

The opening outfit was a high-neck, cream-and-black dotted chiffon dress — with black horsehair trim — that was covered with a yellow boucle coat that had strategic cutouts to show off the garment underneath.

A beaded lace-and-tulle dress with cream-colored sequins and a pale floral applique was topped by a prairie coat — fitted on top, swingy on the bottom — that was decorated with floral embroidery. A hand-knit Amish-quilt motif sweater was worn with a gold-and-gray tulle skirt.

The Mulleavys loaded up layers of different texture, mixing the horsehair with sequins, leather and chiffon. The colors were more serene, though, especially the grainy shades of oatmeal and wheat.

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