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Kenneth Cole
IN A PRE-FASHION WEEK interview with
WWD's Evan Clark, Kenneth Cole described his spring
2005 collection as being 'more refined, more elegant, more modern
and more contemporary, [with an elegance that comes from] the more
coordinated design of the pieces and also from the higher-quality
fabrics, including ramie linen and viscose, and better construction.'
Mr Cole's new collection, designed in cooperation
with Paul Davril Inc., was exactly as he first reported to WWD.
Comprising mainly of pleated dresses, sleek pencil skirts, fitted
jackets and skirts with grosgrain detailing, this collection was
a vastly enjoyable experience on my end and a pleasure to view.
I have never once looked to Mr Cole as the second coming of Chanel,
Yves saint Lauren, Pauline Trigere, Norman Norell or the other design
greats from eras past. He has always struck me as a person who's
simply trying to be the best person he can be. In his design career,
he has made dangerous mistakes but on the whole, he has somehow
managed to fix the errors and continue down that road to find his
design voice. For the past three or five years, he has been seriously
working towards that goal with measured success, and this season,
with this collection, he is that much closer to getting there.
Utilizing a palette of white, brown (various shades:
cognac, cantaloupe, squash, butternut, stone), ecru, tangerine,
jade, seafoam, and indigo, Mr Cole kept to the script and opened
New York Fashion Week in fine style. I liked all his panelled skirt
and form-fitting dresses, particularly his white matte and shine
viscose panelled skirt paired with a cotton gauze camisole top.
He worked the trench coat like a virtuoso: first as a mackintosh,
as a crisp cotton shrunken trench  jacket,
and then as a trench coat dress with self-belting detailing. Liya
was especially tantalizing in a tangerine scoop neck cotton–gauze
sweater paired with a butternut cotton–canvas motor pants,
as were Caroline in a tangerine ramie V-neck top and panelled flirt
skirt topped by a squash suede cropped motor jacket.
Mr Cole's menswear pieces weren't quite as evolutionary,
per se, but who will forget Noah wearing that white parachute nylon
panelled coat over that white swim brief? It's iconic. Get it?
There were those among us at the Bryant Park tents
who felt that Mr Cole was "channelling" Narciso
Rodriguez and the Proenza Schouler Boys in terms of the general
æsthetic flavour of this collection. But here is the question
we should be asking ourselves: who did Mr Rodriguez and Messrs Hernandez
and McCollough "channel" when they were setting about
distinguishing themselves as designers? Hervé Leger? Chanel?
Elsa Schiaparelli? Remember: (a) there is nothing new in fashion
that haven't been done already, and (b) people who live in glass
houses should never throw stones.
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INSET AND ABOVE:
Kenneth Cole. BELOW: Twinkle by
Wenlan.
  
 
Twinkle by Wenlan
WENLAN CHIA,
the designer behind the Twinkle by Wenlan line, is an artist
(she designs her own fabrics based on her paintings and Asian calligraphy),
and a younger designer of note to watch. Her spring 2005 was inspired,
in part, by 'Catherine Denueve in the French musical, Les Parapluies
de Cherbourg, and the rosy-cheeked molls depicted in Norman
Rockwell's wartime paintings,' which resulted in a collection that
was pretty, playful and sophisticated—and a winner to boot.
Some of my favourite pieces in the collection,
in no particular order, include her watermelon silk crinkle chiffon–sateen
dress topped by a cocoa crocheted shrug, her rose silk crêpe
empire waist tied dress, the citron and rose silk chiffon trapeze
tank top paired with a black and white stretch cotton cropped pants,
her scalloped edge silk–cotton smoke hand-knit camisole paired
with a silk chiffon triple layered skirt and her black and white
stretch cotton trench coat over a dusty rose silk crinkled chiffon
dress.
This season also marked Ms Chia's foray into conceptualizing
and designing hand-knit pieces. These pieces stood out as much for
their preppy, girly silhouette, as well as for the injected "swirls
of colour" that give each piece an heightened sense of drama.
CONTINUED
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