The Time Travelers
NEW YORK — Like costume designers asked to create a wardrobe for an imaginary time, New York’s women’s wear designers are offering their visions of the millennium. Thankfully, the year 2000 won’t look like the set of “Star Trek.” The fall 1999 and winter 2000 collections that have been shown here so far are caught between the rustic past and the high-tech future.
No matter where they stand on visions of the millennium, American fashion so far is united on several ideas. The sweater and skirt become the new all-purpose ensemble, replacing the workaday suit and even the ball gown. Thick felt and double-faced cashmere, fall’s key fabrics, are sculpted into clean, geometric shapes such as the A-line or wrap skirt, uncreased wide-leg pants and the boxy cardigan jacket. Murky and bright solid colors coexist in wardrobes of mixable separates unfettered by buttons, zippers or collars.
The most extreme vision comes from Helmut Lang, who proposes a future of space soldiers in primal animal skins or flight suits in fragile, layered tulle. They marched like warriors in motocross-inspired glazed black leather pants and jackets with reinforced knees and elbows. Lang hasn’t abandoned the utilitarian theme he helped initiate. Body pouches are back, this time as tiny bags that strap onto the biceps, above one elegant elbow-length glove or in larger versions that attach to tuxedo pants (the perfect uniform for New Year’s Eve 1999).
Mad Max would covet the parkas and racing jackets made from such sci-fi fabrics as rubber and real silver. Lang’s reputation as a visionary is secure: Anyone less skilled couldn’t make a convincing argument for dresses that come with padded neck rests and puffy shoulder pads that sit atop the shoulders like tiny pillows. Odd but compelling.
In contrast, most mainstream designers are favoring folkloric, cozy clothes that make the future look comforting and accessible, not distant and cold. More designers straddle the eras, offering time-tested silhouettes in high-tech fabrics or ultramodern cuts in cozy, textural fabrics.
In one of the week’s strongest collections, Michael Kors rewrote the definitions of “casual” and “dressy.” He lined a rubberized cotton vest and edged the hem of a floor-length evening skirt with mink to make the clothing equivalent of a Lexus sport utility vehicle. The vest is worn with cashmere sweats that wouldn’t be inappropriate on the Concorde to Paris. Sleek A-line skirts in leather, calfskin, flannel and even solid needlepoint pair with sensual, simple sweaters.
This was a derivation of the collection that he debuted last season as creative director at Celine, the French luxury sportswear house. This week, Celine’s parent, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, bought a one-third stake in Kors’ 18-year-old signature collection. What’s more, Kors is getting the ultimate compliment from his peers: His look of luxurious simplicity has been everywhere this season.
Designers at all levels are discovering the beauty of letting fabrics speak for themselves. This season’s ubiquitous felt, flannel and double-faced cashmere dictate a clean silhouette, mostly because they look best with minimal manipulation.
Simple isn’t necessarily easy, but many designers made it look that way. Ralph Lauren’s collection of spare shapes in bright and cheerful colors was intended to “set the tone for the millennium,” he said in program notes. That translated to cashmere sweaters of all proportions, A-line wool skirts and unconstructed jackets, which sometimes looked stiff. But he made a convincing statement for color, especially at night. He suggested eggshell blue, periwinkle or lipstick pink with pale gray. Or head-to-toe ensembles in lime, coral, fuchsia or rich blue. Even his all-ivory hue ensembles have mandarin suede boots.
A Cozy Runway and Clothes to Match
Hussein Chalayan at TSE proposed the ultimate in comfort--a runway anchored by a fireplace, and a collection based on the bed or, rather, the blanket. He opened with a blanket-soft cashmere bathrobe coat and flat shoes. He cut dresses and wrap skirts from blanket-weight cashmeres, edged them with wide satin ribbon and, just to be sure you got the point, attached a large square patch, just like the ones on Pendleton blankets. The clothes had wit and sophistication, an unusual combination.
Marc Jacobs also evoked visions of hearthside comfort with his cashmere sweaters, knit without bulk from the coziest, thickest yarns. They were worn with cropped pants or “breeches,” low-slung, felt sailor pants or silk and wool pants that look like denim jeans. For now, Jacobs has reworked the charming, girlish looks of last season into a vision that’s just as sweet but more folkloric--cowhide for skirts and jackets, ruffled edges and more of his empire waistlines. Meanwhile, he’s developing some signature garments. The cashmere “Duofold” long underwear tops and waffled thermal T-shirts could become new status symbols among fashion’s cognoscenti.
Anna Sui continued her time travels by invoking the Newport Folk Festival of the early ‘60s. (No millennium concerns here.) The collection, like the era, progressed from simple black-and-white choices to more daring and colorful mixes of cultures and influences. Without the ‘60s accessories--kerchiefs, fur booties and guitar cases--the clothes would stand on their own as fresh updates for the late ‘90s. The collection of smock dresses, tweed suits and dresses, ponchos and pants in geometric patterns benefited from Sui’s new restraint and focus.
Richard Tyler returned to his Los Angeles roots as a couture-level tailor. His small, 20-piece presentation capsulized the season’s trends for luxury fabrics, ethnic influences and crisp tailoring. A ‘70s feel infected his mix of sleek cashmere pantsuits, peasant blouses, sequined mini-dresses and a black leather jacket he named for guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
Two other designers with Los Angeles roots merged the past and present. Mark Eisen, who called his collection “In Transit,” proposed a look that was both folkloric and high-tech. Sometimes unwisely, he let his fabrics find their own shapes--oversize sweaters flowed over shoulders to suggest sleeves and rectangular panels were left to drape into lapels or wrap skirts. For Eisen and other designers, the folkloric message comes from the rich textures and murky colors such as loden, bark and gray. The modern part comes from the angular silhouettes.
Gimmicky Show, Genuine Clothes
Max Azria’s BCBG collection tried forcing the old / new theme by evoking the Wild West on his soundtrack and in the models’ pony-skin cowboy boots. Though the staging was gimmicky, the clothes weren’t. BCBG, once seen as a clearinghouse for trends set on other runways, established a clearer identity. Unlike many designers, Azria wasn’t afraid to dress up the simple felt dresses, pants and skirts with some lace-like laser cutouts, spatters of abstract beading and all-over embroidery. His evening wear was a new strength: tiny rhinestones burrowed into strapless mohair gowns, a velvet “ski” vest tops languid cashmere trousers, and an embroidered camisole with a gaucho skirt looked much better than it sounds.
The word must be out that young women want and need evening wear, but only if it’s as unfussy as jeans and T-shirts or as rebellious as purple hair.
Nicole Miller cleverly translated the high-tech fabrics into high-wattage evening wear. Skirts and gowns with reflective finishes radiated like they were electrified.
