|
 |
Major Attitude Something intriguing emerged on the runways of the Spring 97 NY Collections. It wasn't a theme. For the first time in ages the ideal of uniform dressing was banished from sight even if a lot of the European inflected fishtails hems did somehow manage to drift across the Atlantic. And it wasn't a dictate: no designer worth his salt issues those anymore, especially when the closest thing to a dictate these days is sheer and translucent. (All together now..Yeah... Right!) In fact stalwarts like Donna Karan experimented with a wonderfully modern proposition: the ideal of "seasonless" dressing where her Fall/Winter aesthetic of luxe yet spiritual found continuity in an accomplished Spring line. The exciting thing that happened this season was the emergence of a new kind of woman: a tough, no-nonsense urbanite,trailing a particularly insolent brand of chic. |
 |
|---|
| This season designers seemed committed to figuring out the style dynamics of this strong urban(e) woman. They have correctly deduced that what women are looking for when they designer shop are two primary variables: quality product and multiple option dressing. The head to toe designer look is very dead and designers have finally come to realize this. Similarly, the one-look-fits-all dictum is folly, so this season individualism ruled. The best collections were the ones which aspired to dressing this fierce new woman in all her complex facets. |
|
|---|
| The idea of dressing the contemporary woman as opposed to the 50's or 70's woman is a tremendously marketable one and when the brash new consumer cuts the cream from crop later this Spring, retail might just get the kind of boost its been aching for all 90's long. Nowhere was this triumphant vision more elegantly enunciated than during Isaac Mizrahi's sexy yet pristine collection. Particularly brilliant was the blouses that engaged the dynamics of a bra or the dresses that tantalizingly teetered in the tough territory between lingerie effect and cocktail drama. Richard Tyler cleverly dressed our tough new girl in the most subtle most seductive jackets possible. He softened the hard construction inherent in said jacket to the point where it behaved like a crisp shirt. |  |
 |
|---|