New York Fashion Week Roundup Part 1: The Shows that Rocked, Shocked and Wowed

By Anne M. Raso and Finance Foodie

This past New York Fashion Week (NYFW) lasted about 11 days and was enough to knock even the most seasoned fashionistas off their highest Louboutin pumps! There were numerous shows overlapping both inside and outside the Lincoln Center—with actually many more outside the tents since it tends to be more cost effective.

Breaking Bad star R.J. Mitte at Desigual

A lot of the big shows filled up fast (that comes as no surprise) and as always, the hottest ticket was the closing show—which is always Marc Jacobs. My favorite shows in the tents included Desigual, one of the more reasonably priced lines since they have their own chain of stores nationwide. The clothes still had the heavy Spanish flower patterns they are famous for but less of their giant logos, giving them a better chance of being worn by the over 40 set. Models wore exotic crowns of flowers that were as attention grabbing as the clothes.

Georgine

My favorite evening wear in the tents came from Georgine, who is famous for simple, elegant gowns in the highest quality silks. You can see how many of these can become “lifetime pieces” for ladies who do a lot of cocktailing and more formal outings. She comes across with the “little black dress” several times and fashionistas were foaming at the mouth to get their hands on one or more of these.

The biggest name off-Lincoln Center show I attended was Elle Runway Collection By Kohl’s. This French inspired collection featured quirky wool hats with netting and pom-poms, lots of polka dot skirts including ball gowns, plenty of ruffle flounce hem dresses and eyelet jewel tops. This is an incredibly fashion-forward collection and if you did not know better, you’d think you were at the runway show of a famous French designer! There were plenty of pale pink coats, cigarette pants and sweaters—and even a pair of Eiffel Tower heels!

Lie Sang Bong

The greatest matching of collection to actual runway goes to Lie Sang Bong. His bright and bold Dream Road collection was created in response to the maritime disaster in South Korea (the designer's native country) last April. The whimsy and bright butterfly designs projected positivity and a new awakening.

Backstage at Sherri Hill

I also checked out the formal wear of Sherri Hill. The models all looked dramatic in low, knotted ponytails created by the creative hairstyling team at Farouk who used all the latest Chi products but especially their new dry shampoo to create volume! In the audience were Miss USA, Ivana Trump, Countess LuAnn de Lesseps and more socialites then you can shake a Burberry umbrella at. It was lovely to attend a show (and even go backstage) at the famous Plaza Hotel Ballroom, where Fashion Week took place 50 years ago. Another “off-campus” winning designer was Edwing D’Angelo, who had a Middle Eastern theme to his clothing and even had the models walk on numerous Persian rugs—not an easy feat in those towering heels, especially if you hit the wine bar upstairs for the guests first, LOL!

My most creative show awards go to the Malibu-based Mark + Estel, who played guitar and sang (respectively) at the end of their show and proved that they are rockers as much as designers. Their clothes were flashy in a good way, and there were plenty of animal prints—right down to Mark’s own leopard print jacket that he wore to perform in at the tents.

Athleta

Athleta is a forerunner in athletic wear, which tends not to be as flashy or bedazzled as the other types of clothing shown during NYFW, so they had the models do exercise and/or dance in white wood frames that were stacked on top of each other—and a few of the models came to the front of the stage and breakdanced or did yoga. Guests were amazed!

Gia Ventola showcasing her designs

One designer invited me to her showroom. Former Olympic athlete Gia Ventola designed an entire cream and black silk collection of separates where every piece can be worn with each other—and each piece is a full cut so they can fit almost anyone. Her unique symbol of a bar through a circle is featured on her zipper pulls and on the dramatic jewelry she designs which features semi-precious stones like topaz and amethyst.

Paper Cloth

My favorite men’s show was the first ever Paper Cloth collection shown at the Esquire Lounge on Spring Street. This collection had real GQ looks and the models were all knockouts in the matinee idol way.

So ends another great yet crazed NYFW—but not without going to a bunch of lounges and parties. So check out Part 2 of our coverage, which focuses on fashionista kicking off their heels and letting their hair down!