MICHAEL Kors was feeling cool for spring — minty-fresh, to be exact. The designer, who is usually all about good old-fashioned American sportswear, got architectural on us and embraced the sharp angle, the fold and almost boxy mod shapes. The palette was crystalline — pale green, mauve, ice blue and white — and the fabrics seemed techy, in solids as well as watercolor- and ink-splattered graphics. Add in sculptural sandals, clear plastic inserts in dresses and bathing suits, and thin sliver belts — and the whole thing had a “Mad Men”-goes-to-the-moon feeling.
Nanette Lepore went somewhere else, but not that far. There was a French flavor about Lepore’s collection, and we really liked it. Perhaps it was in the spirit of the recently departed knitwear queen Claudie Pierlot, but Lepore’s show felt Cote d’Azur in all the right ways. Combining chocolate brown, teal blue and rainbow brights in stripy knits, flirty ruffles, utility jackets and pants and Gauguin watercolors, it made us want to chuck it all and head straight to St. Tropez.
Phillip Lim, too, is really beginning to outdo himself. While the collection started out a little wobbly with some red suits and unflattering rolled waists on pants and shorts, it evolved rather exquisitely to a heart-stopping series of dresses. The crescendo was a collage of accordion-pleated silk and metallic-sequin panels or organza appliques like chiffon sculptures attached to the torsos. If it sounds like wearable art — usually an oxymoron — it is.
But something strange is afoot at Oscar de la Renta. A new design influence or a stylist — that’s unclear, but Oscar just didn’t seem himself. There were glimpses of the American master of the soigné — a black-and-cream sequin skirt suit with swishy chiffon box pleats, a bronze-and-red tulle embroidered column. But there were other moments, such as a black-and-purple floral gown finished with a feathered fox shrug and purple felt hat, which were alarmingly off-key. It was as though someone else added in ensembles to finish the collection. Tip the balance any more, and put the brand’s elegance cred in danger.