'Fashion Week highlights'

3.1 Phillip Lim Fall-Winter '11

Another New York Fashion Week has come and gone. As Fashion Week crosses the pond to London, let’s take a look at some of the New York highlights from last week:

The biker babe gets a sophisticated update at 3.1 Phillip Lim (see above). Leather trousers, skirts and leather sleeves on bright blue jumpsuits were Phillip Lim’s interpretation of the working biker babe who, according to the designer, must also attend lunches and cocktail parties. The most noteworthy pieces were: the functional black coat with large pockets, the wool jacket with contrast sleeves, a tunic dress with beaded sleeves and green trousers with contrast trim. At 3.1 Phillip Lim, function and form is always the rule - never the exception.

Alexander Wang Fall-Winter '11

Outerwear is surely the emphasis at the latest Fall-Winter collection of Alexander Wang. How else to keep warm in Wang’s sheer menswear-inspired tops also in the collection? Models imbuing the cool girl attitude at Alexander Wang paraded around in topcoats with fur sleeves, cocoon-like capes and bomber jackets with thick fur trim. Wang continued to incorporate luxury into his collection by creating satin ribbon skirts that peel away in strips, shimmery pants and tailored vests in fur.

Narciso Rodriguez Fall-Winter '11

Narciso Rodriguez gets graphic in a collection inspired by different art forms. There was a fair share of color blocking with two-toned trousers and graphic prints on long shift dresses. Different textures like silk, wool and chiffon were pieced together to create garments that resembled a kind of moving collage. The entire collection was still modern, but with more street bite than ever before seen.

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of datapple.com; yougoglencoco.com; mahryska.com

'New York Fashion Week ReCap'

3.1 Phillip Lim SS11

And another New York Fashion Week has come and gone, but not without its own highlights:

3.1 Phillip Lim

Proving that aprons are not only for the kitchen, designer Phillip Lim sent a collection of varying top lengths on the runway that critics claimed was “one of [his] best and most refined collections to date.”

The designer experimented with garment construction, employing a mostly neutral palette with a few classic blues, black and white for some change. Lim incorporated sheers in his backless and side-less concoctions, which he paired with leather, organza and black lace.

Highlights of the Spring-Summer Collection included an organza top edged in black and decorated in black bobbing thread, worn over sage pants; a sheath dress in an abstract print with a geometric insert at the midsection; and collared tunic dresses in liquid-like transparent.

Anna Sui SS11

Anna Sui

Anna Sui channeled the 1970s on the West Coast with crochet dresses, paisley print shirts and homespun knit sweaters. Marking the 20th anniversary of the Anna Sui empire, the Spring-Summer collection was true to the print-loving, bohemian designer.

There were patch skirts and crochet tops accessorized with feathers, apron dresses edged in ruffles, denim jumpers, paisley print shifts and handkerchief hem dresses with fringe. Except unlike the artisanal wares of the seventies spun from affordable fabrics like cotton and wool, this collection was far from thrifty. Linen-lined tulle, flouncy chiffons and lace made this one collection not likely to ever wind up to a second-hand store.

Alexander Wang SS11

Alexander Wang

The fledgling designer opted to start on a clean slate for Spring-Summer, beginning his collection with all-white deconstructed looks with cargo styling and strips of gold. The collection was a deviation from Alexander Wang’s suited, Wall Street-inspired collection of Fall-Winter.

Wang emerged with cool green and silver (eventually evolving into a canary and terracotta palette), sportswear with a metallic sheen and splashy prints. The construction theme was evident in the carpenter pants in see-through whites. And to further drive the motif home, white splashes of paint accessorized the models’ hair.

The designer, who owes his success to his off-duty model street fashion, did rework in some of the Wang favorites: the motorcycle cross jackets and vests, the skinny sweat pant, and skirt with fold-over flaps.

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of style.com

'Fashion's Night Out'

Have you ever wanted to hear the musical musings of Oscar de la Renta, or style tips with Alexander Wang and the designers of Proenza Schouler?

Ever wanted to introduce yourself to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour?

You can do all this and more during Fashion’s Night Out!

The global fashion fest will hit all major cities Thursday, Sept. 10, an initiative hatched by editors and publishers last spring in Paris and then cultivated by all 13 Vogue editions.

Its primary focus: to shop, shop, shop!

‘Fashion’s Night Out is Vogue’s response to the notion that in these challenging times, certain kinds of pleasure, such as shopping, are impermissible,’ wrote Wintour in Vogue’s September letter from the editor.

And with pleasure comes business.

More than 300 retailers (from independent shops to global luxury houses) plan to stay open as late as 11 p.m., luring customers with music, giveaways and special appearances from designers, celebrities, models and magazine editors. Pop-up stores – like the one between Vogue and Macy’s, or Parisian boutique Merci and Gap – will be a onetime shopping experience.

In New York City, Fashion’s Night Out equates to an appearance by Isaac Mizrahi at Bergdorf Goodman and the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte selling clothes literally from a car trunk at their trunk show.

At the Stella McCartney store on 429 West Fourteenth Street, have some vegetarian food from a food truck parked outside and swap eco-fashion tips with Vogue fashion director Tonne Goodman.

Add a free pint to your tab at the Rag & Bone pop-up Irish pub, or a signature frocktail and some free pampering at Tracy Reese.

Aside from giving some much-needed business to retailers, Fashion’s Night Out has teamed up with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Community Trust to host a city-wide clothing drive for the NYC Aids Fund. Stores like Costume National and Dolce & Gabbana will have their own collection bin for new or gently used clothing donations.

Or purchase your own short- or long-sleeve Fashion’s Night Out tee ($30 or $35), with 40 percent of sales benefiting the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

For a complete listing of participating stores, visit fashionsnightsout.com

I've marked my calendar. Have you?

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of fashionsnightout.com and vogue.com