Karen Walker tote bags given to the front rows at the show

This past Saturday was a rainy one but that didn’t stop the fashionistas from attending the Karen Walker show for New York fashion week. But underneath all those umbrellas, lucky show-goers managed to snag Karen Walker totes filled with fashion swag!!

Walker is a designer hailing from New Zealand with a definite knack for casual luxury. Her spring 2010 collection was inspired by the British television series ‘The Prisoner’ which aired in the 1960’s, and took place on a mysterious Edwardian seaside village, a prison for retired spies cached as a holiday resort. The dichotomy of an island vacation versus an island in captivity lends itself perfectly into Walker’s work. Her designs appear effortless yet put-together, masculine yet feminine, adorable yet fierce. In this way, it is clear that one of Walker’s many gifts is her ability to balance design. If there is a proper way to layer three different patterns and prints in one outfit, it is walking down her runway.

Her runway was filled with chic and playful designs. I loved the bold use of stripes and their emphasis on a loosely-fitted top or bottom. Paired with a frill or ruffle, the overbearing stripe suddenly becomes chic. The belted dress with cascading layers at the hip is forgiving to any silhouette and brings with it an air of casual elegance.

Tiered dresses, ruffled shoulders, and bubble-shaped jumpers added young coyness and youthful vibrancy to the palette. I love how the light, short, and airy dresses were anchored down with a pop of color from practical boat shoes or a dark, unbashful sock.

Walker’s command of jacket design is astounding. She showcased more than a dozen different varieties of outerwear on the runway - all made of various materials, cuts, and designs. Some tailored, some ruffled ponchos, some trenches, some capes - each jacket had a fundamental statement.

Karen Walker greets the crowd.

The show was a wonderful medley of shapes, lengths, and colors that seamlessly flowed together. To make such incongruity effortlessly harmonize on the runway is a feat that should not be taken lightly. With her stunning spring 2010 collection, Walker has managed to appeal a yacht-full of different personalities and tastes under one label.

Visit Karen Walker

Tags: Karen Walker, Runway, seaside, Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Week.

Conservative times call for conservative.. headdresses. Fashion week has turned out a new trend we can only describe as chaste-chic as numerous designers sent their models down the runway resembling nuns and monks and obscuring hair and ears by wrapping heads in costume-like hats and wraps. Ninja-like head coverings first appeared at threeASFOUR’s Saturday evening presentation and then mysteriously emerged again barrelling down the runway at Zero + Maria Cornejo’s Monday show. Matthew Ames‘ entire collection seemed to be a commentary on modesty and restraint by using enormous amounts of fabric to cover the models up as much as possible. Skin was hard to find as even wrists and ankles disappeared underneath billowing folds. Even Marc Jacobs whose show was about exuberance and color sent a model out in a large folded wool hat whose expanse resembled that of The Flying Nun’s.

Tags: chaste, Fashion Week, hats, head wraps, headdress, Marc Jacobs, Matthew Ames, monk, monochromatic, New York, ninja, nun, Runway, The Flying Nun, threeASFOUR, Zero + Maria Cornejo.

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.

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.

Carolina Herrera and Marni sunglasses on the spring 2009 runways / Images via style.com

Half-frame sunglasses are making a huge comeback for spring. We’ve seen them in two varieties with either a thin bottom rim (on the spring 2009 Carolina Herrera runway) or a completely exposed glass bottom (at Marni’s spring show). Personally we love the graphic silhouette either way. With their classic retro feel, the glasses have the same glamorous effect as a thick swipe of eyeliner on the top lid.

Rayban Clubmaster Sunglasses available at Net-a-Porter / Vintage Revue Sunglasses available at Eyeglasses

Linda Farrow Luxe Gold-Plated Sunglasses available at Net-a-Porter / Linda Farrow Gold Rimmed Sunglasses also available at Net-a-Porter

Tags: Carolina Herrera, eyewear, half frame sunglasses, Marni, retro, Runway, Spring, sunglasses, vintage.

Fifi Lapin’s credo is “What should I wear today?”, a common question asked by many, however Fifi is not a girl, but rather an illustrated rabbit who wears designer clothes (Chanel and Luella are favorites) on her namesake blog. Fifi is a shopaholic Miffy, a girl rabbit who can have it all, because with delicate swipes of the artistic hand, she is wearing the latest runway creation with her signature deadpan look, ears alert and feet always slightly pigeon-toed. Creating envy by tailoring the latest looks to her straight and narrow frame, Ms. Lapin dispenses a froth of fashion advice with each new outfit while hopping to the next soiree. One stylish lagomorph indeed.

Fifi Lapin wears Sonia Rykiel, copyright Fifi Lapin 2008

Fifi Lapin wears Chanel, copyright Fifi Lapin 2008

Fifi Lapin wears Chloe, copyright Fifi Lapin 2008

Fifi Lapin Blog

The Fifi Lapin T-Shirt

Tags: blog, Chanel, Chloe, designer clothes, Fifi Lapin, illustration, lagomorph, Luella, Miffy, rabbit, Runway, Sonia Rykiel.