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He is not a fan of men in mesh anything or super-tight,
skinny-boy hipster pants. His clothes are instant American classics:
foundation pieces like sturdy, versatile peacoats, the perfect winter
shearling, the best khakis, warm chunky cashmere sweaters, and pre-softened
utility pants that you will never, ever throw away.
For his female customers, Mr Kors went all out.
You want sexy swimwear? Here’s Carmen Kass in an orange high-waist
one-piece number with a wrap-around leather belt accent. Honorable
mention should also go to his brown–tan keyhole swimsuit with its
double buckle front detailing (a shout-out to his equestrian-inspired
collection of several years ago). Are you in the market for a new
pair of jeans? Then why not pick up a pair of his skinny jeans with
zippers at the ankle? They were a continuation of tough-girl look
from last season and come in white cotton, denim and a dressy gold
brocade print. I simply adored his bright yellow cashmere turtleneck
sweater. The selection of jackets and overcoats he sent out ran
the gamut from boxy shrunken casual jackets and lightweight trenchcoats
to a deliciously sexy dyed yellow shearling vest. And how cute was
his semi-sheer green and blue three-quarter-sleeve baseball shirt?
And wouldn’t Paris Hilton look great in his orange and yellow striped
knit miniskirt with its side lace-up detailing (paired with a white,
wife-beater tank top)? Jacquetta Wheeler surely steamed up the room
in that outfit.
For evening, he continued the easy-does-it undertones
in his orange quasi-flapper cocktail dress with gold windowpane
accents and the exquisite goddess gowns that ended the show.
Narciso Rodriguez
NARCISO RODRIGUEZ is a man who reveres women and strives to design
clothes that show them at their best at all times. And his spring
2004 collection was no exception.
Inspired by his love of Brazil, he sent down the
catwalk clothes designed to bring out the sexy inner goddess in
his customers. It is a safe assumption to say that the corset and
the manner in which it accentuates a woman’s figure was the jump-off
point of this collection. The majority of the pieces shown have
a slight flare at the hips, with his bound seam detailing playing
an active role in defining the woman’s figure—even if she didn’t
have one before she tried on the dress.
With Mr Rodriguez, if you blink, you stand the
chance of missing all the added details that make him the rising
darling of both the Junior Leaguers and the downtown set. This include
the discreet lavender stripe that runs down the middle of a tan
knee length dress, the way in which the metallic stripes on each
side draws the focus back to the waist of flowing tan evening gown.
He used fan pleating on the back of a cream skirt and piping in
other designs to further demonstrate his point the garments’ innate
ability to flatter a woman.
However, it was his evening designs that showed
the full breadth of his skills. Still operating in his minimalist
mode, his evening gowns were extremely sexy. Maybe that also had
to do with his choice of models as well. Who can resist Carmen Kass
in a flowing navy–black metallic silk square neck evening dress?
She’s already a modern-day goddess and is made all the more so here.
His white strapless column dress and the peach gown that followed
were masterpieces of the genre. Mr Rodriguez’s talent seems boundless,
and this may only be a small taste of what to come as he grows into
his role as a full-fledged star on the New York fashion scene.
CONTINUED
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Anna Sui’s spring 2004 collection
was based on west-coast fun-in-the-sun sports—swimming, surfing
and scuba diving—with its inspiration coming from Endless Summer
(1966) and Step into Liquid (2003) and vintage beach party
movies
       
TOP ROW: Michael
Kors. ABOVE: Anna Sui took her inspiration
from west coast water sports.
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