NEW YORK (AFP) — While a few designers let the dour economic mood creep into their collections, New York's Fashion Week, which wraps up Friday, rallied in style against the recession with lots of gold, glamour and dazzle.
Decked out in thigh-high boots, vertigo-inducing stilettos and elbow-length snakeskin gloves, backs naked and shoulders draped in silver fox, models showing the autumn-winter 2009-2010 creations looked far from hurried businesswomen.
And just as well to avoid the issue of employment, with the US job market shrinking steadily in the crisis.
The outfits strutted down the New York catwalk were clearly meant for cocktail parties, not the office, including numbers by Catherine Malandrino to Akiko Ogawa, from Michael Kors to Oscar de la Renta, Nanette Lepore to Jason Wu and Narciso Rodriguez.
But designers did not necessarily ignore the bottom line.
Recession-busting Diane von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, turned out a relaxed, nomad-chic look with short velvet or leopard-print dresses under long coats, multi-hued shawls over short skirts, and lots of bold, sturdy knitwear with bursts of plaids and sequins, all topped with fuzzy wool chapka hats.
Donna Karan won praise for what many said was her best collection in years, with functional yet alluringly draped outfits with big shoulders, belted waists and long, loose skirts or trousers.
Her long fur gloves, impeccably cut dresses, blazers ranging from red or violet to stronger greys and blacks, and a broad choice of coasts from tweed to suede or fur marked a highlight in the week's showings.
Like Marc Jacobs, who playfully scoffed at the financial crisis with a retro-punk collection heavy on fuschias, yellows, greens and golds, square shoulders and puffed-out skirts, several other designers resorted to bright colors, even neons.
Gold lame was notably in vogue, as in the belts of Nanette Lepore, or the sleeves or skirts of Michael Kors and a belted dress by Catherine Malandrino.
And if the padded-shoulder jackets of the 1980s made a comeback, the dresses underneath, like some by Malandrino, were elegant studies in asymmetry.
Michelle Obama was a no-show at Fashion Week, despite the hyped presence of designers Jason Wu and Narciso Rodriguez whose dresses recently favored by the fashionable US First Lady put them on the fashion map.
But more of their designs could find their way into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, as White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers was seen at several catwalks this week.
With about a dozen shows a day, the New York wee is a key event on the fashion calendar but some buyers for the major luxury distribution circuits were noticeably absent this year.
With the economic crisis forcing a shift to frugality for many, several designers opted to show right in their own studios but admitted suffering from the lack of visibility.
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