Far from the bustling crowds at Bryant Park, people quietly filled the seats of the Altman Building in Chelsea for the Karen Walker fall/winter show on Valentine’s Day. In this collection, the designer stayed faithful to some of her favorite silhouettes but incorporated a somewhat unusual inspiration. According to a source close to the designer, Walker examined “basically trash and things that are considered ugly, like weird prints or track pants, wanting to reinvent them into something pretty.” This was evident in the cracked china and shattered crystal prints that adorned dresses and tops which were made of thick sweatshirt material. Working in a palette of subdued browns and grays, the designer included structured dresses and separates topped with voluminous double-breasted coats that evoked the feeling of crisp fall mornings. The collection, appropriately titled “She’s Cracked,” embraces the beauty of destruction and unconventionality in a way that is feminine and wearable.

Lower images by My Nguyen.

Tags: cracked china, double-breasted coats, Fall 2009, fashion show, Fashion Week, Karen Walker, New York, reinventing, Runway, sweatshirt, track pants, wierd prints.

On a faded stretch of West 37th Street, designer Tom Scott held his fall winter presentation yesterday in an old garment district storefront. Just a hop from the glitz of the Bryant Park tents, but worlds away, Scott’s conceptual attitude towards fashion strangely but perfectly fit in with the seedy street which is home to zipper shops, delis and knockoff handbag stores. The collection was appropriately titled, “things I don’t like,” and is meant to be a playful stab at his working through the aspects of design which he is normally uncomfortable. Scott who works with knits primarily attacked his fears of cable-knits, popcorn ball stitches, and “Golden Girls” type sweaters. All pieces were given Scott’s unique treatment - the enlarged cable knit became a caricature of its once humble beginnings and found its way onto a voluminous and vibrantly hued vest. A loud thrift-store striped pattern was reinterpreted into an oversized dropped sleeve sweater with an exaggerated neckline. However funny these pieces may have seemed, the irony was not lost in the intricate details along with the plush yarns that Scott is known for.

While the back room of the space resembled a dry cleaners with metal racks floating hundreds of plastic garment bags and pieces displayed on “We love our customers” hangers, the front room resembled a scene out of the Twilight Zone’s The After Hours episode, where mannequins come alive in a department store and take turns leaving for a month. Here the “girls” seemed content to hang out - “Priscilla” relaxed in the front wearing a colorblock mohair sweater and large alpaca earmuffs, listening to her record player. “Tom,” the only male mannequin hid in the back and wore a “polka dot” sweater - the “dots” being the negative space in the knit. “Shirley” in a strapless alpaca dress which resembled the tufted bottom half of an ostrich pressed her hands up against the storefront and gazed outside - possibly ready for her month leave.

–Joyce Tota

When some designers want to use humor, they usually end up with M.I.A.’s Grammy performance outfit. Designer Tom Scott, takes his wit and talent to a less overt level where it becomes more of an inside joke. This season for fall ‘09, Scott stayed true to his completely wearable, modern, and just plain cool knitwear, by being open to the upside down and unconventional manipulations of the average sweater.

Scott takes his reluctantly intellectual approach to fashion and has fun with it. With hairy cuffs on alpaca sweaters, drapey cashmere tube skirts, a fishnet mohair dress, and quirky sweaters with colorblocks or just plain holes, Scott creates key pieces that quietly evolve knitwear for the modern age. He effortlessly pulls off beautifully draped knits, like a heavy zip-front cardigan with an enveloping back, or the knit blanket with sleeves, that doubles as quite the warm coat.

–Hillary Rocker

All images c. The Totam

Tags: Bryant Park, conceptual, dry cleaners, Fall 2009, Fashion Week, garment district, knits, knitwear, New York, Tom Scott, Twilight Zone.

Madcap prints have always been Rachel Comey’s signature and fall’s collection has no shortage. The vivid variety included florals (delicate liberty prints and generous cabbage roses), a graphic leopard print, and a “doorman” print of a dancing man with an umbrella which appeared in inventive layers with cozy woolen knits, menswear-style trousers and ankle-grazing skirts. Comey who also has a very popular accessories collection sent girls down the runway in numerous oversized hats, earmuffs, and headwraps to keep heads warm. Even a large side bun on one model vaguely resembled the knotted headwrap on another.

Above images via style.com

The collection was shown last night at the Taxter & Spengemann Gallery near the East Village whose raw white-bricked walls were the perfect backdrop to Comey’s richly layered outfits. Pre-show, journalists cajoled members of the well-dressed crowd to pose for pictures as the small space filled up.

All images c. The Totam unless otherwise noted.

Tags: Fall 2009, fashion show, Fashion Week, knits, liberty print, New York, prints, Rachel Comey, Runway, Taxter & Spengemann.

The site of Cushnie et Ochs' Fall 2009 show on Friday: The Celeste Bartos Forum at the New York Public Library / Cushnie et Ochs' Spring 2009 show via NY Post

New York’s Fashion Week officially commences tomorrow on the hallowed grounds of Bryant Park and beyond. Designers who either can’t afford to show in the tents or feel it is too commercial of a venue are adopting other various staging grounds. With a Parsons Designer of the Year Award to their name, Cushnie et Ochs are using the breathtaking Celeste Bartos Forum at the New York Public Library to show their sophomore collection. In a similar literary vein, menswear label Loden Dager has rented out The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, (a library and school which was originally founded to educate families of skilled craftsmen) for their Saturday night show.

Eco-friendly line Bodkin and their air plant invite (image via Teen Vogue)

In perfect harmony, designer Eviana Hartman of eco-friendly line Bodkin is appropriately utilizing the Horticultural Society to show her third collection. Clever invites were literally alive - paper pyramids housed small air plants (which will grow just about anywhere and without soil) - and went perfectly with the sustainable line’s ethos.

The Robert Miller Gallery, where Zero + Maria Cornejo will show.

Numerous other designers are showing in art galleries and museums which are always the perfect blank canvases. Rachel Comey whose pieces are works of art on their own will be showing at the Taxter & Spengemann gallery Friday night, while Zero + Maria Cornejo’s sculptural designs will hold perfectly in the Robert Miller Gallery’s austere space. Rounding out the artistic venues are red carpet favorite Marchesa at the Chelsea Art Museum and Vittadini at the International Center of Photography.

Tags: alternate venues, Bodkin, Bryant Park, Chelsea Art Museum, Cushnie et Ochs, Eviana Hartman, Fall 2009, Fashion Week, galleries, International Center of Photography, Loden Dager, Marchesa, New York Public Library, NY designers, Parsons Designer of the Year, Rachel Comey, Robert Miller Gallery, Taxter & Spengemann, the tents, Vittadini, Zero + Maria Cornejo.