New York Fashion Week Report 2; Marc by Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler

Hello world,

I hope everyone’s been having a fun fashion week in New York. Since I can’t be there to enjoy it myself, I suppose I’ll have to live vicariously through the many fashion blogs and style.com to keep me in the loop.

Added to that now is the time that my body wants to get sick, so I’ve been in bed all day taking medication in the hope I’ll be fine for when LFW starts tomorrow morning.

So here are two more shows from New York Fashion Week, and boy what fun they both were.

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs is a consummate showman when it comes to fashion. He brings out a show like he did with his main line, Marc Jacobs, a few days ago and then goes to the very opposite spectrum with a collection based on a severe militaristic style. It was almost Puritan in its severity and lack of colour, though there were glimpses of a brighter side with hues of bright crimson, luxe brocades, mohair, perforated velvet and bouclé.

The dresses remind one of military wives, with their knee-length skirts, dark floral patterns and simplistic cut. The drummer-boy hats also evoke a feeling of war-time Britain facing severe austerity.

That’s the thing that struck me the most about this collection; how relevant it is in our day and age, with the threat of a double dip recession hanging over our heads and the instability in the Middle East continuing to dominate the headlines. We might have left war-time Britain behind long ago, but its effects were all over the catwalk.

Proenza Schouler

Two things that we learned after seeing the Proenza Schouler show. One is that they do the over-sized trend remarkably well, and two is that their tailoring is as superb as ever. This collection definitely rocked the ‘Asian’ vibe, with a nod to Chinese brocade and an army of Asian models sashaying down the catwalk. It’s obvious where their next aim in the market is, for like so many other designers at the moment, they are tailoring their collections and brands to the growing Asian market.

Not that it detracted from the high quality of their collection, mind. In fact their Asian influence had a distinct New Yorker vibe to it, as Lazaro Hernandez described it to style.com. Their liberal use of leather, waxed and cut into strips to create a mesmerising weave for their jackets and dresses added a modern feel to the collection.

Some of my favourite pieces were no doubt the array of leather jackets, with large lapels and flaps, that are no doubt also the most difficult to wear. And their all-leather ensemble; well that’s just daring.

As always these two designers, captured a very New Yorker approach to every trend; it’s either go bold or go home and that’s why I love them.

So tell me, what did you think of the collections?

Until then,

Franzi

xoxo

Images courtesy of style.com