The Fashion Informer

Thin Is In at Chado Ralph Rucci

As always, for fall 2007, Ralph Rucci presented a beyond-elegant Chado Ralph Rucci collection Friday evening in the Tent at Bryant Park, full of the couture-like craftsmanship and luxe details we have come to expect from this singularly talented American designer, who celebrates his 25th anniversary in the industry this year.

"Ralph Rucci is my absolute design idol," said Project Runway alum Laura Bennett as we made our way into the venue. "The prints and the luxury; it’s just unparalleled. This is the show I’ve been waiting all week to see. I’m very happy to be here. This is defintely what I want to do when I grow up."

Well, that's nothing if not an admirable goal.

And while we could find no fault with the clothing itself - indeed, the fur-trimmed satin parka, chocolate alligator origami jacket, black velvet suit, Louise Nevelson-inspired coats and directional seamed wool dresses were the epitome of monied, sophisticated chic - the presentation was deeply marred by Rucci's use of too-thin models, several of whom appeared to be suffering from eating disorders (or, to use the current PC term, disordered eating), and many of whom did little justice to the sublime creations they wore, as it was difficult to appreciate the beauty of Rucci's designs when the bodies beneath bore shoulders so knobby they resembled door knockers, and shoulder blades that jutted out of low-back gowns like the fragile wings of a malnourished baby bird.

We realize that Rucci is far from alone in his use of exceptionally skinny girls (and, let's face facts, most runway models are teenagers or barely in their 20s, so the term "girls" is apt). But coming at the end of a long week of shows marked by one skeletal parade after another, it was saddening - nay, downright sickening - to end New York Fashion Week looking at yet another show populated by emaciated young women who have, quite literally, been reduced to clothes hangers.

It is obvious, CFDA entreaties aside, that the fashion industry is not capable of policing itself on this matter (and we're not sure that it really is the fashion industry's job to do so - after all, these girls have modeling agencies and, one presumes, families who are better suited to the task). But it is certainly true that if designers took a stand and refused to hire sick, stick-thin models, there would cease to be a reason for these girls to starve themselves in order to keep working.

This point was unintentionally driven home even further when Rucci sent out a black jersey "x-ray" gown with a sheer chiffon inset tracing the model's ribs and spine. Coming, as it did, on the back of yet another alarmingly thin mannequin, the effect was upsetting rather than uplifting.

In fact, though his designs were stunning, we left Rucci's show feeling embarrassed to be part of an industry that continues to promote such unhealthy, unrealistic ideas of female beauty, despite the hollow media outcry that things are changing for the better.

When it comes to matters of body image and the fashion industry, this was a shameful way to end the week.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Costello Tagliapietra's Cosmic Collection

"Jeffrey Costello made disco outfits for me in the late ‘80s in his teeny little apartment," Entourage star Debi Mazar told us before the start of the Costello Tagliapietra show at Bryant Park on Friday, which drew some of fashion's heaviest hitters. "Lots of Lurex, with great darts on different fabrics. So I’m here to celebrate him and Robert’s modernism, with great American fabrics. I’m just so happy for them!"

In fact, most in the audience seemed to be so happy for the Bearded Bears of Red Hook (as we like to refer to the jovial, plaid-shirted duo, which consists of Mazar's pal, Costello, and his equally hirsute design and life partner, Robert Tagliapietra), who sent out a wonderfully focused collection of their trademark figure-flattering jersey frocks in lush, inky shades of purple, blue, burgundy, gray and umber, which they later told us were inspired by Carl Sagan's Cosmos series.

There were also some new-for-them structured jackets, pants, skirts and day dresses that don't require the wearer to be a size 2, several embellished with Swarovski trim and many boasting versatile day-to-night silhouettes.

"It was very sleek and the simplicity is wonderful - very feminine," surmised Mazar while waiting to go backstage after the show. "Sort of film noir but modern, with really rich colors. Their dresses look good on all women. And it was a real thrill to come to their show after all these years and see Anna Wintour and André Leon Talley sitting there, waiting to see what they’re doing. I am very, very proud."

As well she should be.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Hail to the Queen at Charles Nolan

"I have been an anglophile my while life, and I was totally blown away by the movie, 'The Queen,'" said designer Charles Nolan in the program notes that accompanied the fall 2007 collection he showed Friday evening at The Promenade in Bryant Park. "Helen Mirren's performance was amazing, her whole look, the whole style - the hats, the handbags, the details - was fantastic."

Thankfully, Nolan's homage was anything but slavish, so while their were plenty of Sloaney separates here (roomy felt toppers, flannel skirts, pussy bow blouses, twill riding pants, wool jumpers, oversized cardis, and lots of big Queen Mother hats and boxy handbags), the collection never felt too literal or fusty.

Nolan's use of children and real-women models also helped energize the proceedings (there a few men's looks, too), as did the use of too-cool-for-school contrasting tights and suede platforms. And the designer's ever-evolving "obsession" with the classic button-down, which he tweaked in a myriad of clever ways, included a show stopping white paillette shirt dress belted in black.

"Why real women?" Nolan mused backstage when asked why he chose to use non-model friends in the show. "Because it’s reality; we live in a real world. I mean, they’re just another example of a model and a model is just an example of a customer."

Judging from the audience's enthusiastic response, Nolan is sure to have some very satisfied customers on his hands when this royally successful collection hits shelves come fall.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Zang Toi Does Deneuve

For the fall 2007 collection he presented at Bryant Park on Friday afternoon, Zang Toi cited French actress Catherine Deneuve as his muse, and her sophisticated presence could be felt both in the clothing and the atmosphere.

After straightening out multiple seating snafus, which caused some well-known members of the fashion industry to storm out in a huff before the show began [Note to Toi: you might want to have a word with your incredibly disorganized PR firm next season about the way in which they handle - or mishandle - such matters], the lights dimmed, a male French voice began crooning from the speakers, and out came a leopard trench coat-wearing seductress, complete with flattened beret and cigarette.

What followed were countless more riffs on the Deneuve oeuvre, including camel trousers under a matching fox-edged cardigan, paisley trousers and coats in classic cuts, tartan plaid minis with va-va-va-voom oomph, kicky "Victoire de la Castellan" cancan frocks, and a suite of beautiful black suits and evening dresses that were sparely elegant in both form and embellishment.

Several of the more mannish pairings recalled Katharine Hepburn or Garbo as much as Deneuve, and though a remix of the Brigitte Bardot/Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie and Clyde" played on the sound system, Toi's confident, self-sufficient heroines felt far more gangster than moll.

As a whole, this outing was more restrained than Toi's usual fare and, save for the aforementioned PR mishap and hammy mannequin Anna Von Ravenstein (her model-mother, Pat Cleveland, was in the front row and the teen was clearly vamping for mama's benefit), there was plenty here to love.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Donna Karan Hearts New York (Again)

After a spring collection that found her wandering the Moroccan desert - all sand-colored caftans and dusty djellabas - Donna Karan returned to her New York City roots in the fall 2007 line she presented at her Greenwich Street space on Friday afternoon.

Using the energy of New York at night as her jumping off point, Karan crafted a collection that, like the DKNY show earlier this week, was a paean to slick city streets and flashes of light in garments that felt wonderfully fresh, strong and modern.

Iconic black and white images from DK campaigns of yore - including her infamous ad depicting a Karan-clad female president being sworn into the Oval Office - flashed on the wall before the start of the show, reminding us just how entwined with NYC - and empowered, liberated women - Karan has become in the past 20-odd years.

The collection that followed - full of flat origami-pleated bodices that recalled the urban skyline, flashes of neon brights that suggested the lights of Time Square glimpsed from a speeding taxi, puff-collar jackets to provide protection - and privacy - for the 21st century gothamite, paillette- and crystal-embellished dresses that glittered like stars in the night sky, and shiny patent belts and platforms that reflected the lights of the city - demonstrated that Karan has come home in a big, bad...make that good (really, really good)...way.

All we can say is: Welcome back, Donna! We missed you!

Photos by Gerardo Somoza, courtesy of Donna Karan

"The inspiration came from our visit to Australia, specifically the architecture we saw in Melbourne," said Gene Kang, who is the Kei half of the label Y & Kei (his partner, Hanii Yoon, is the Y), after the fall 2007 collection the duo presented in Bryant Park on Thursday afternoon. "So we used an architectural and graphic approach, with patchwork and new cutting lines, grafting and color-blocking for new proportions."

Indeed, the Federation Square building-themed collection referenced that iconic structure in geometric details both subtle (contrast-color obi belts defined slim skirts and pants) and overt (ivory chiffon insets lent a modernist edge to a black silk cocktail dress, while a similarly graphic belt did the same for a pencil skirt).

The duo also used lovely origami-like treatments throughout - folded, geodesic-like flowers on a bodice here, fabric rosettes tucked beneath the cuff of an elbow-length sleeve or peeking out from a jacket collar there - that added an understated feminine touch to the otherwise structured, masculine collection. And they did some especially cool slouchy, hip-slung trousers, including one pair in hunter green satin shown with an origami-detailed tank that would make for a great evening-out alternative to their more traditional dresses and gowns, several of which were strapless numbers with garter-style lingerie straps purposely peeking out from their low-cut backs or had swishy braided straps trailing down the wearer's spine.

"I thought it was fantastic; I was just delirious," crowed Friends/CSI actress Aisha Taylor backstage after the show. "What I loved about it was it was a little bit more muscular than most things they’ve done in the past, but it still had their beautiful, feminine details, with the rosettes tucked into the sleeve or under the collar. It was fantastic! They just didn’t lose their viewpoint and they design so well with details - like the beautiful strapless dresses with the swimsuit strap detail. I was totally seduced."

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Vera Wang has done it again.

The fall 2007 collection she showed Thursday afternoon in The Tent at Bryant Park was a feat of both imagination and artistry, this time filtered through the lens of Russian history, from Bolshevik workers and country peasants to the extravagant opulence of the Romanov court and Doctor Zhivago.

"It’s my first Vera Wang show," said Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sebelia before the show began. "I think in the last two years her direction has gone darker and I love it. I love it."

As do we. From first look to last, Wang took her audience on a moody sartorial journey across the snowy Steppes and into the heart of Red Square. Backed by a dire soundtrack meant to evoke émigrés on the march, out came somber-faced models (their sunken cheeks, blackened eyes and bare lips making them look like an Army of Haunted Orphans), bedecked in padded taffeta fencing jackets, deconstructed voile tops beneath heavy woolen sweaters, distressed shearling cutaway coats, and layer upon layer of beautifully cut wool, mink, tulle, flannel and brocade pieces.

Many of the looks were worn with clunky-chic leather boots, Cossack hats and fuzzy wool kerchiefs tied under the chin, Babushka-style, all topped with haphazardly pinned brooches or fanciful crystal pendants that looked as though the beleaguered wearer had tossed them on before running out the door in fear of her life, until the end, when the layering eased up, as if to suggest that our heroine had finally reached her destination safely, and felt free to ditch the sweater, coat and scarf for an elegantly embroidered frock.

"It was a really powerful show, with the music and energy," said actress (and Vera Wang Princess spokesmodel) Camilla Belle afterwards. "It was like a rich fantasy world. I really loved it."

Backstage, Wang greeted friends and fans like Vogue's André Leon Talley, who was mugging for the cameras and shrieking at the top of his lungs about something-or-other.

"Why Russia for me?" Wang repeated to the question we had posed after Talley made his exit. "Because I fell for it for winter and I felt I was ready to tackle it. I have some ideas that I keep on the shelf and then I wait 'til the right moment. I felt it was time. And it was also a very good vehicle for me to explore more masculine cuts and tailoring. Even the skirts were very tailored. We really worked hard on cutting and we wanted to be in direct opposition to spring, which was very flou. So it was a totally different inspiration."

And were the jewels and sparkles - which turned up even on the back of some heavy leather boots - meant to counteract all that masculine energy?

"I think so," Wang replied with a laugh. "It’s almost like the Bolshevik girls stole the Czarina’s jewelry and ran away and threw it on their gray, washed Japanese wool jackets."

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

"I was inspired by a Nan Goldin photograph [1981’s “Suzanne with Mona Lisa, Mexico City,”]," said Richard Chai of the origins of his fall 2007 collection, which he showed in The Salon at Bryant Park on Wednesday afternoon.

"I just loved the light, and the woman looking at herself in the mirror, which was austere but also hopeful and optimistic. I wanted to capture that feeling in the collection."

Capture it he did, by way of a spare patent leather bolero with skinny pleated trousers and a charcoal wool honeycomb suit with slices of silk defining the arms and hips (both of which played to the austere side of the fence), offset by a color blocked greige/rouge turtleneck with high-waisted ivory leather riding pants, a beautiful long ivory hooded cardigan, and a pretty-as-a-picture pearl sateen shift with frayed organza ruffles that encircled the shoulders, making the wearer look like an uber-chic warrior princess (these last skewed to Chai's cheerier point of view).

And, of course, there were plenty of the designer's instantly covetable coats - perhaps the best we've seen all week - including an evergreen boiled wool trench cinched with an greige patent belt, a green patent blouson jacket with pouffy pouch pockets, a supremely elegant winter white cashmere bathrobe coat, and an ivory topstitched beauty with floral embroidery trim that came in both long and shorter lengths.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

"No dance this time - just sporty American luxury," explained Michael Kors of his fall 2007 collection, which debuted Wednesday morning in Bryant Park, hot on the heels of his well-received dance-inspired spring line.

"How do you say de-licious, de-lectable, di-vine?" crooned Deee-Lite's Lady Miss Kier at the start of Kors' latest ode to all-American style, which featured the best music of the week. "How do you say de-gorgeous?"

If you're Michael Kors, you say it with a wink and a smile.

Gone were the ballet pink wrap sweaters and post-rehearsal cashmere sweats of last season, replaced instead by a wintery-hued mix of gray, black and ecru separates designed to riff on the idea of dichotomy (sable worn with cotton, patent with cashmere, bare legs under short tweedy toppers, strappy sandals with cropped wool pants).

Guys had slick down puffers tossed on over their two-button flannel banker suits and thin belts encircling the waist of their classic crombies, gals wore felt minidresses topped with big fox hats, fur ringed the elbows of wool shifts, and broadtail was fashioned into a sexy swing dress and trimmed with knit cuffs and cowl.

Oversized ribbed cashmere cowls appeared on both the men and women, in fact, tossed over coats, suits and dresses alike, to terrific casual-chic effect that luxed up the more sporty looks and added a dose of edge to the dressier Madison Avenue ensembles. And Kors threw in some orange and taxicab yellow scarves and sweaters to lighten the mood of his otherwise somber-hued separates.

"It’s the way people want to dress today," an ebullient Kors told us backstage post-show, while fielding congrats from Plum Sykes, Kim Cattrall, Jane Krakowski, Olivia Chantecaille, Robert Verdi and Mary Alice Stephenson.

We couldn't agree more. So how do you say "de-gorgeous?" Just ask de-Kors.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Watching a Rodarte show is always a treat for the senses, but never more so than Tuesday night, when designing sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy debuted their fall 2007 collection at the Daryl Roth Theater on Union Square.

A mere three nights earlier, the venue had been the staging ground for the future-forward looks of up-and-coming eco-label SANS, but on Tuesday, Rodarte took the audience on a trip back in time, instead, with a collection of astonishing, artfully realized creations that - while it's becoming a cliché of every Rodarte review to mention - places the sisters among the few couture-level designers working in America today, and that it was our privilege to witness firsthand.

Referencing both history and the inner, emotional life of womankind, the show opened with Jessica Stam in a laminated ebony wool dress with Swarovski-encrusted sleeves and stiff wing-like appendages at the hip, the torso of which was torn asunder to reveal a fine jersey underpinning, as if to suggest that what you see isn't always what you get.

This was followed by a slightly more conventional tulle-and-crystal cocktail dress. And, in fact, the duo actually showed more than a few looks that didn't require a degree in art history or philosophy to appreciate this time around, including a pleated chiffon sheath with a fanciful floral belt, a purple and fuschia satin frock with black-and-white panel encircling the hem, and a downright delicious cable knit sweater dress that demonstrated the Mulleavys can do straightforward and sexy with the best of them, should they so choose.

But, as always, it was their signature vertical-ruffled dresses - many of which jutted away from the hip in an ungainly, yet breathtaking, way - that stole the show. In fact, when they sent out a series of jacquard dresses featuring elaborate hand-pleats that stood about a foot from the model's body, like a satin moat protecting the princess within, we were so transfixed we forgot to take notes.

Looking around at the dreamy smiles worn by many of our neighbors, we clearly weren't the only one experiencing a Fashion Moment.

"This collection was inspired by our reading an article about the Mona Lisa, and the recent scans that were done to the painting," the Mulleavy gals told us later. "Underneath the layers, it was revealed that she was originally wearing a white gauze dress and bonnet. For us, this idea of a haunted women, someone that we know so much about, and yet nothing at all, really seemed to permeate our thoughts. We kept thinking about Titian portraits, and then of communist Czech outfits - clothes that seem a bit too simple for a woman to wear."

Inspiration aside, "simple" is not a word one would ever use to describe Rodarte’s otherworldly, one-of-a-kind creations. And for that, we are eternally grateful.

How many ways can you work with jersey? A million and one, if you're Doo-ri Chung.

Earlier this month, Chung had told WWD she was "captivated by the concept of envelopment" for fall '07, and that message came through loud and clear in the beautiful collection she presented at The Promenade in Bryant Park on Tuesday evening.

True to her word, Chung, who designs under the name Doo.Ri and won both the Swarovski Perry Ellis Emerging Talent award and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize in 2006, sent out one look after another that draped or wrapped around the body in ingenious, figure-flattering configurations, much of it in the jersey that has been her trademark since she began showing her line in 2003.

Whether it was a series of draped jersey tops with paillette-covered bibs (shown with matching paillette arm warmers or fingerless gloves and super-slim pants), a billowy jersey vest over a matching silk chiffon dress, lettuce-edged layers that recalled Stephen Burrows at his best, a midnight blue top encased in a cage of fringe, bubble-hem minis with Swarovski suspenders, or a cap-sleeved evergreen blouson with a citron lace chest plate encircling the back and shoulders, Chung once again pushed the fashion envelope - and her own constraints as a designer - into a whole new realm.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

The ever-irrepressible Betsey Johnson called her fall 2007 collection "The Betsey Johnson School of Charm" - the theme carried through to the show invite, which was printed on a paper glove form delivered in a pair of white cotton gloves - and the designer opened her Tuesday afternoon spectacle with a pair of French maids who feather dusted their way down the runway, wearing very short uniforms and sky-high heels.

What followed was a classic, if less than thrilling, BJ mash-up: '20s-era tweed suits, '60s-era plaid coats, '30s-era crocheted dresses, '70s-era wrap dresses and, well, just about every era post-1910 was represented in some way, shape or form, though none of it felt particularly original or interesting. That's not to say there was anything inherently bad here; just that everything felt a bit once-warmed-over, and we've begun to tire of this season's vintage references, already.

There were a few looks that didn't feel like they came straight from the racks at Beacons' Closet or Screaming Mimi's, including a simple white boiled wool funnel neck dress, a camel trench with an inventive now-you-see it, now-you-don't leather waist tie, a perfectly elegant white silk blouse-and-tapered trousers combo, and an ivory ribbon embroidered chemise that looked, from a distance, like it was fashioned from plastic bubble wrap (in a good way).

The rest of the 59 looks were vintage Betsey (pun intended), though the audience didn't seem to mind the fashion deja vu at all. But then, the show's soundtrack - with remixes by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Blondie, the Clash, and even Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson (simultaneously) - was one of the best we'd heard all week, and the audience, which included Fran Drescher, Robert Verdi, Russell Simmons, Reverend Run, Todd Oldham and Joan Jett, hooted and hollered their approval when Johnson took to the stage with granddaughter, Layla, in tow for her semiannual runway cartwheel.

"I don’t wear a lot dresses, so I’m more appreciating the beauty of the clothes and, if I did wear dresses, what I might wear," said a surprisingly tiny Joan Jett when we caught up with her after the show. "But I thought it was beautiful. Really, really nice. And I loved the music!"

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

British born designer Alice Temperley was up to her usual tricks in the fall 2007 show she dubbed "Beauty in Exile," which took place Tuesday night at The Promenade in Bryant Park.

But this time around, her sexy, curve-caressing knit dresses were inspired by the exiled Russians who emigrated to Paris in the early 1900s and changed both the culture (via the Ballets Russes) and the way chic Parisians dressed (via the more embellished Russian style, which was worlds away from the Art Nouveau chic favored by Paris trendsetters at the time).

Temperley juxtaposed this sartorial culture clash by way of fitted smoking jackets with teensy weensy skirts, short-sleeved knit dresses over billowy white blouses, cropped jackets over banded-knee knickers and, of course, the elaborately crocheted, lacy intarsia dresses and gowns that have become synonymous with Temperley London, many of which boasted Art Nouveau graphics.

Small cossack hats, shiny black tights, framed handbags, a generous dash of royal blue and burnt orange pieces - some with built-in jeweled collars - and huge bejeweled headpieces furthered the Russians-in-exile theme.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

"I drive by the Frank Gehry building on the West Side Highway every morning on the way to the office," said Derek Lam of the inspiration behind his stellar fall 2007 collection, presented Tuesday afternoon in the Waterfront Building in Chelsea. "The modernity, the asymmetry, the sense of lightness and structure. The seaming and asymmetrical pieces, highlighting form, all come from that."

While many designers seem to be having an architectural moment this season - Shelly Steffee, Yeohlee, Naum and Diane von Furstenberg, to name a few - only Lam took his cue from an architect whose buildings are so closely associated with New York City.

So it's no wonder that the clothes also had a graphic, modern edge and a decidedly urbane feel. Lam opened with an ivory wool coat with an asymmetrical "holster" that encircled the model's torso, and additional body-defining holsters and harnesses turned up on a cool white shirt dress and draped top, while wide black elastic was used to reign in an asymmetrical gold goddess dress.

Thick silver zippers rose vertically from hem to neck like skyscrapers while contrast merrow seaming, asymmetrical knit ribbing and carefully placed patchwork pieces - leather insets at the knee of riding pants, lamé patches on the torso of dresses - defined the body in an unexpected way.

A few of the gowns Lam sent out as a finale appeared hurriedly finished and didn't fit properly, but that was a minor blip in an otherwise inspired, forward-thinking collection.

In her first runway show in nearly a decade (following an intimate presentation last spring to announce her recently relaunched line), designer Gemma Kahng unveiled a lovely, lyrical collection of couture-level creations in the drawing room of the tony Estonian House in midtown Manhattan on Monday evening.

Focusing primarily on embellished special occasion pieces - with a few well-cut coats and dresses thrown in to the mix - Kahng played to her strengths as a couturier vis-à-vis brocade dresses with puffed velvet sleeves, dresses and suits with sheer tulle necklines, gazar coats paired with sleek velvet leggings, and a killer tulle camisole-sequined leggings look that was the epitome of uptown-downtown chic.

"All the colors and textures and shapes were inspired by Renaissance paintings; Jan van Eyck, artists like that" Kahng explained post-show while accepting congratulatory hugs and kisses from pals like jewelry designer Kazuko, fashion TV personality Lauren Ezersky and Met Museum Costume Institute research associate, Stephane Houy-Towner.

"I had a crash course in Renaissance art history," the designer added with a laugh.

It was obvious from the lovely trio of portrait-worthy mohair-and-tulle bell-shaped gowns she sent out at the end that Kahng is an ace student.

Photos courtesy of Gemma Kahng

We know it's not realistic to expect a designer to reinvent the wheel every season. Still, it was depressing to see Marc Jacobs return to his old vintage mash-up tricks after his 2006 collections, which broke brave new ground and set the fashion world on its ear in the best way possible.

On Monday night, however, Jacobs debuted a fall 2007 collection that - while beautifully presented on an enormous set made to resemble the verandah of a very grand mansion, with all 56 models posing together in a Penn-like tableau vivant before walking the length of the runway and disappearing behind a vast French door - felt less like the work of a visionary designer and more like the work of a very skilled re-interpreter.

For haven't we seen these elegant, ladylike silk dresses, tie-front blouses, mannish trousers, reefer coats, skinny jumpsuits, belted pantsuits, cloche and wide-brimmed color-blocked hats and spectator pumps before?

Oh yes, of course. Jacobs turned down the volume for fall and has instead channeled the likes of Virginia Woolf, Daisy Gatsby, Halston and Yves Saint Laurent - with a dash of Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn thrown in for good measure.

Was it pretty to look at and lovely to behold? We have to admit that it was. And the celebrity spotting was a fun pre-show distraction, too, what with the likes of Debbie Harry, Amber Valletta, Helena Christensen, Roberto Cavalli, Zoe and Lenny Kravitz, Rod Stewart, Harry Connick, Jr. and a very glamorous Lee Radziwill sitting in the front row.

But it was also more than a little disappointing to have Jacobs yank us back into the not-so-distant past after several seasons of brilliantly demonstrating what he is capable of in the here and now.

"It was about flight and sport for me," said Thakoon Panichgul backstage after the fall 2007 collection he presented Monday night at the Prince George Ballroom in Murray Hill. "I wanted everything to be about flights of fancy, with lots of shimmer."

Shimmer, it did. And then some. From the opening look (a drop waist dress of feather-printed jacquard) to the last (an ink "swan" dress made entirely of, yes, swan feathers), Thakoon evolved the softly structured volume he introduced for spring with creations that managed to be sophisticated and ethereal at the same time - no easy feat.

A tweed cocoon coat boasted seams that resembled the silhouette of bird's feathers; similar seaming turned up on a short tulip skirt paired with a jacquard sweatshirt - to cool casual-luxe effect - and the flowers that Thakoon was obsessed with last spring reappeared, in sequins this time, on a duchess satin sweatshirt dress (a nod to his athletic theme, as was a cashmere baseball cardigan).

The 2006 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner-up gave a shout-out to his Vogue homegirls in the form of a "Poiret" knit cardigan beneath a chunky cocoon jacket, and a Poiret-inspired georgette "lampshade" dress that will surely be worn by only the bravest fashionistas. (Vogue's Anna Wintour is chairing the upcoming Paul Poiret exhibit at the Met Museum's Costume Institute, and rumor has it that she has asked several designers to make Poiret-inspired frocks for various celebrities and society gals to wear to the opening gala in May, so perhaps Thakoon was warming up for that task).

But the designer soon returned to his aviary theme with pretty peacock-print dresses, fanciful coq feather skirts and the aforementioned swan dress. After all, not everyone's going to want to wear a hoop skirt to what is often billed as The Party of the Year.

Photos by Dan Lecca, courtesy of Thakoon

Fall 2007 finds Luca Luca designer Luca Orlandi in a sporty - and sparkly - mood.

In his best collection to date, presented Monday afternoon at the Promenade in Bryant Park, Orlandi opened with a suite of crisp white ski chic looks, complete with goggles, down puffers and knit caps pulled low on the models' smoky eyes, followed by a spangly cowl neck sheath, fox/chiffon blouson over skinny wool trousers, leather-look lurex pants and body-conscious gray dresses, both long-sleeved and short, many trimmed with sequins or boasting shiny trim.

Much in this collection was sequined or made from slightly Space Age-y reflective fabric, in fact, including metallic rayon pants, a shiny taffeta anorak, tinfoil-bright silver leggings worn beneath a silver mink capelet, a knit-trimmed bomber made entirely of matte silver paillettes and a winter white trench with chunky Swarovski-embellished stand-up collar that made it look as though the model was wearing a rock crystal neck brace. There was even a champagne sequined dress seamed with mink, for those who really can't get enough sparkle and fur.

While this may sound tacky, it was not, due to Orlandi's deft tailoring and the impeccable craftsmanship of his team, four of whom shared the stage when it was time to take a bow.

"The people who took the bow are my design assistants," said the Italian-born Orlandi after the show. "They take the bow with me because they do the collection with me. I mean, this is not a one man effort anymore. It’s sincerely too much work and I couldn’t do it anymore alone, like I did when we started. It’s really a major effort by a lot of people and it’s right to share the clapping of the hands."

We agree. And Orlandi is sure to hear more clapping of the hands - and ringing of the cash registers - when this stellar collection hits stores come fall.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

We've always found Oscar de la Renta's collections to be lovely, in that safe, uptown-upscale, women-of-a-certain-age kind of way. Which is to say, we've always admired the designer's talent and taste, but have never coveted a single one of his creations, finding them to be a bit too old-fashioned, too old-money and too much, well - how to put it? - our grandmother's Oldsmobile.

But all that changed yesterday when de la Renta presented his fall 2007 collection in The Tent at Bryant Park. From first look to last, it was as if someone had taken de la Renta's Upper East Side creations and dosed them with a shot of Meatpacking District cool, dusting the cobwebs off the House That Oscar Built and breathing fresh new life into a tired old design dog.

The show opened with a poet sleeved sweater and slick tweed skirt ensemble topped by an attitudinal floppy sable hat (hel-lo, my pretty!), and what followed was a wonder to behold. There was Jessica Stam strutting by in a laminated wool tweed jacket and black satin tights accessorized with predatory Wolverine boots and ginormous trapper hat. Laminated tweed also turned up on a long coat trimmed with yet more Wolverine, followed by Hye Park in a cap sleeve burgundy wool bouclé dress that hovered around her hips like a seventh-grade suitor at his first boy-girl dance.

De la Renta streamlined a traditional black peacoat to modern effect, and did the same with a shearling anorak with knit cashmere sleeves. His evening looks took a similarly unexpected turn, as in a black sequined t-shirt paired with a girlie tulle skirt and cool white shoes, and several dresses with their big portrait collars pulled up to one side.

There were also wonderfully inventive fabrics, such as an embroidered black/white/red cocktail dress whose pattern recalled a cityscape at night, and a black-on-black cocktail dress that shimmered like fresh asphalt after a rainstorm.

All told, de la Renta's fall collection was the epitome of uptown luxe. But this time around, downtown types will want in on the action, too.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Citing Edvard Munch's 1889 portrait of Hans Jaeger as inspiration, Carolina Herrera sent out a collection that utilized an uncharacteristically somber palette - lots of gray, grape, bark and black, with a judicious sprinkling of a hue she dubbed "captain blue" - and was equally restrained in its use of frou and embellishment.

That is not to say this collection was staid or boring. Quite the opposite, in fact. By moving away from the sherbet colors she used this spring and jettisoning the mumsy silhouettes of last fall for edgier, more fashion-forward shapes, Herrera seems to be courting a younger - or at least more modern-thinking - client.

Sure, there were plenty of her trademark pretty print dresses and gala-worthy gowns, but there were also lots of mix-and-match separates, some in an unexpectedly cool lamé and soft-focus plaid, along with sleek wool sheaths with unexpected embellishments (from copper disc panels to geometric embroidery).

Herrera also showed plenty of fur, of course, but this time around, in addition to the usual ladies-who-lunch statement coats and Park Avenue princess chubbies, she added knit-edged fox mufflers with built in pockets, and a slouchy, oversized grandpa cardigan edged in fox that looked uber-modern casually tossed over an embroidered chiffon dress - the epitome of uptown-goes-downtown chic.

Interestingly, there was not a single handbag in sight. But then, with a collection this fine, accessories would be superfluous.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Y & Kei's Melbourne Sojourn

"The inspiration came from our visit to Australia, specifically the architecture we saw in Melbourne," said Gene Kang, who is the Kei half of the label Y & Kei (his partner, Hanii Yoon, is the Y), after the fall 2007 collection the duo presented in Bryant Park on Thursday afternoon. "So we used an architectural and graphic approach, with patchwork and new cutting lines, grafting and color-blocking for new proportions."

Indeed, the Federation Square building-themed collection referenced that iconic structure in geometric details both subtle (contrast-color obi belts defined slim skirts and pants) and overt (ivory chiffon insets lent a modernist edge to a black silk cocktail dress, while a similarly graphic belt did the same for a pencil skirt).

The duo also used lovely origami-like treatments throughout - folded, geodesic-like flowers on a bodice here, fabric rosettes tucked beneath the cuff of an elbow-length sleeve or peeking out from a jacket collar there - that added an understated feminine touch to the otherwise structured, masculine collection. And they did some especially cool slouchy, hip-slung trousers, including one pair in hunter green satin shown with an origami-detailed tank that would make for a great evening-out alternative to their more traditional dresses and gowns, several of which were strapless numbers with garter-style lingerie straps purposely peeking out from their low-cut backs or had swishy braided straps trailing down the wearer's spine.

"I thought it was fantastic; I was just delirious," crowed Friends/CSI actress Aisha Taylor backstage after the show. "What I loved about it was it was a little bit more muscular than most things they’ve done in the past, but it still had their beautiful, feminine details, with the rosettes tucked into the sleeve or under the collar. It was fantastic! They just didn’t lose their viewpoint and they design so well with details - like the beautiful strapless dresses with the swimsuit strap detail. I was totally seduced."

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Vera Wang's Lyrical Russian Runaways

Vera Wang has done it again.

The fall 2007 collection she showed Thursday afternoon in The Tent at Bryant Park was a feat of both imagination and artistry, this time filtered through the lens of Russian history, from Bolshevik workers and country peasants to the extravagant opulence of the Romanov court and Doctor Zhivago.

"It’s my first Vera Wang show," said Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sebelia before the show began. "I think in the last two years her direction has gone darker and I love it. I love it."

As do we. From first look to last, Wang took her audience on a moody sartorial journey across the snowy Steppes and into the heart of Red Square. Backed by a dire soundtrack meant to evoke émigrés on the march, out came somber-faced models (their sunken cheeks, blackened eyes and bare lips making them look like an Army of Haunted Orphans), bedecked in padded taffeta fencing jackets, deconstructed voile tops beneath heavy woolen sweaters, distressed shearling cutaway coats, and layer upon layer of beautifully cut wool, mink, tulle, flannel and brocade pieces.

Many of the looks were worn with clunky-chic leather boots, Cossack hats and fuzzy wool kerchiefs tied under the chin, Babushka-style, all topped with haphazardly pinned brooches or fanciful crystal pendants that looked as though the beleaguered wearer had tossed them on before running out the door in fear of her life, until the end, when the layering eased up, as if to suggest that our heroine had finally reached her destination safely, and felt free to ditch the sweater, coat and scarf for an elegantly embroidered frock.

"It was a really powerful show, with the music and energy," said actress (and Vera Wang Princess spokesmodel) Camilla Belle afterwards. "It was like a rich fantasy world. I really loved it."

Backstage, Wang greeted friends and fans like Vogue's André Leon Talley, who was mugging for the cameras and shrieking at the top of his lungs about something-or-other.

"Why Russia for me?" Wang repeated to the question we had posed after Talley made his exit. "Because I fell for it for winter and I felt I was ready to tackle it. I have some ideas that I keep on the shelf and then I wait 'til the right moment. I felt it was time. And it was also a very good vehicle for me to explore more masculine cuts and tailoring. Even the skirts were very tailored. We really worked hard on cutting and we wanted to be in direct opposition to spring, which was very flou. So it was a totally different inspiration."

And were the jewels and sparkles - which turned up even on the back of some heavy leather boots - meant to counteract all that masculine energy?

"I think so," Wang replied with a laugh. "It’s almost like the Bolshevik girls stole the Czarina’s jewelry and ran away and threw it on their gray, washed Japanese wool jackets."

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Optimism Rules at Richard Chai

"I was inspired by a Nan Goldin photograph [1981’s “Suzanne with Mona Lisa, Mexico City,”]," said Richard Chai of the origins of his fall 2007 collection, which he showed in The Salon at Bryant Park on Wednesday afternoon.

"I just loved the light, and the woman looking at herself in the mirror, which was austere but also hopeful and optimistic. I wanted to capture that feeling in the collection."

Capture it he did, by way of a spare patent leather bolero with skinny pleated trousers and a charcoal wool honeycomb suit with slices of silk defining the arms and hips (both of which played to the austere side of the fence), offset by a color blocked greige/rouge turtleneck with high-waisted ivory leather riding pants, a beautiful long ivory hooded cardigan, and a pretty-as-a-picture pearl sateen shift with frayed organza ruffles that encircled the shoulders, making the wearer look like an uber-chic warrior princess (these last skewed to Chai's cheerier point of view).

And, of course, there were plenty of the designer's instantly covetable coats - perhaps the best we've seen all week - including an evergreen boiled wool trench cinched with an greige patent belt, a green patent blouson jacket with pouffy pouch pockets, a supremely elegant winter white cashmere bathrobe coat, and an ivory topstitched beauty with floral embroidery trim that came in both long and shorter lengths.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

A De-Gorgeous Michael Kors

"No dance this time - just sporty American luxury," explained Michael Kors of his fall 2007 collection, which debuted Wednesday morning in Bryant Park, hot on the heels of his well-received dance-inspired spring line.

"How do you say de-licious, de-lectable, di-vine?" crooned Deee-Lite's Lady Miss Kier at the start of Kors' latest ode to all-American style, which featured the best music of the week. "How do you say de-gorgeous?"

If you're Michael Kors, you say it with a wink and a smile.

Gone were the ballet pink wrap sweaters and post-rehearsal cashmere sweats of last season, replaced instead by a wintery-hued mix of gray, black and ecru separates designed to riff on the idea of dichotomy (sable worn with cotton, patent with cashmere, bare legs under short tweedy toppers, strappy sandals with cropped wool pants).

Guys had slick down puffers tossed on over their two-button flannel banker suits and thin belts encircling the waist of their classic crombies, gals wore felt minidresses topped with big fox hats, fur ringed the elbows of wool shifts, and broadtail was fashioned into a sexy swing dress and trimmed with knit cuffs and cowl.

Oversized ribbed cashmere cowls appeared on both the men and women, in fact, tossed over coats, suits and dresses alike, to terrific casual-chic effect that luxed up the more sporty looks and added a dose of edge to the dressier Madison Avenue ensembles. And Kors threw in some orange and taxicab yellow scarves and sweaters to lighten the mood of his otherwise somber-hued separates.

"It’s the way people want to dress today," an ebullient Kors told us backstage post-show, while fielding congrats from Plum Sykes, Kim Cattrall, Jane Krakowski, Olivia Chantecaille, Robert Verdi and Mary Alice Stephenson.

We couldn't agree more. So how do you say "de-gorgeous?" Just ask de-Kors.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

At Rodarte, Art Trumps Commerce

Watching a Rodarte show is always a treat for the senses, but never more so than Tuesday night, when designing sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy debuted their fall 2007 collection at the Daryl Roth Theater on Union Square.

A mere three nights earlier, the venue had been the staging ground for the future-forward looks of up-and-coming eco-label SANS, but on Tuesday, Rodarte took the audience on a trip back in time, instead, with a collection of astonishing, artfully realized creations that - while it's becoming a cliché of every Rodarte review to mention - places the sisters among the few couture-level designers working in America today, and that it was our privilege to witness firsthand.

Referencing both history and the inner, emotional life of womankind, the show opened with Jessica Stam in a laminated ebony wool dress with Swarovski-encrusted sleeves and stiff wing-like appendages at the hip, the torso of which was torn asunder to reveal a fine jersey underpinning, as if to suggest that what you see isn't always what you get.

This was followed by a slightly more conventional tulle-and-crystal cocktail dress. And, in fact, the duo actually showed more than a few looks that didn't require a degree in art history or philosophy to appreciate this time around, including a pleated chiffon sheath with a fanciful floral belt, a purple and fuschia satin frock with black-and-white panel encircling the hem, and a downright delicious cable knit sweater dress that demonstrated the Mulleavys can do straightforward and sexy with the best of them, should they so choose.

But, as always, it was their signature vertical-ruffled dresses - many of which jutted away from the hip in an ungainly, yet breathtaking, way - that stole the show. In fact, when they sent out a series of jacquard dresses featuring elaborate hand-pleats that stood about a foot from the model's body, like a satin moat protecting the princess within, we were so transfixed we forgot to take notes.

Looking around at the dreamy smiles worn by many of our neighbors, we clearly weren't the only one experiencing a Fashion Moment.

"This collection was inspired by our reading an article about the Mona Lisa, and the recent scans that were done to the painting," the Mulleavy gals told us later. "Underneath the layers, it was revealed that she was originally wearing a white gauze dress and bonnet. For us, this idea of a haunted women, someone that we know so much about, and yet nothing at all, really seemed to permeate our thoughts. We kept thinking about Titian portraits, and then of communist Czech outfits - clothes that seem a bit too simple for a woman to wear."

Inspiration aside, "simple" is not a word one would ever use to describe Rodarte’s otherworldly, one-of-a-kind creations. And for that, we are eternally grateful.

Doo.Ri Pushes the Envelope

How many ways can you work with jersey? A million and one, if you're Doo-ri Chung.

Earlier this month, Chung had told WWD she was "captivated by the concept of envelopment" for fall '07, and that message came through loud and clear in the beautiful collection she presented at The Promenade in Bryant Park on Tuesday evening.

True to her word, Chung, who designs under the name Doo.Ri and won both the Swarovski Perry Ellis Emerging Talent award and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize in 2006, sent out one look after another that draped or wrapped around the body in ingenious, figure-flattering configurations, much of it in the jersey that has been her trademark since she began showing her line in 2003.

Whether it was a series of draped jersey tops with paillette-covered bibs (shown with matching paillette arm warmers or fingerless gloves and super-slim pants), a billowy jersey vest over a matching silk chiffon dress, lettuce-edged layers that recalled Stephen Burrows at his best, a midnight blue top encased in a cage of fringe, bubble-hem minis with Swarovski suspenders, or a cap-sleeved evergreen blouson with a citron lace chest plate encircling the back and shoulders, Chung once again pushed the fashion envelope - and her own constraints as a designer - into a whole new realm.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

At Betsey Johnson: Charmed, I'm Sure

The ever-irrepressible Betsey Johnson called her fall 2007 collection "The Betsey Johnson School of Charm" - the theme carried through to the show invite, which was printed on a paper glove form delivered in a pair of white cotton gloves - and the designer opened her Tuesday afternoon spectacle with a pair of French maids who feather dusted their way down the runway, wearing very short uniforms and sky-high heels.

What followed was a classic, if less than thrilling, BJ mash-up: '20s-era tweed suits, '60s-era plaid coats, '30s-era crocheted dresses, '70s-era wrap dresses and, well, just about every era post-1910 was represented in some way, shape or form, though none of it felt particularly original or interesting. That's not to say there was anything inherently bad here; just that everything felt a bit once-warmed-over, and we've begun to tire of this season's vintage references, already.

There were a few looks that didn't feel like they came straight from the racks at Beacons' Closet or Screaming Mimi's, including a simple white boiled wool funnel neck dress, a camel trench with an inventive now-you-see it, now-you-don't leather waist tie, a perfectly elegant white silk blouse-and-tapered trousers combo, and an ivory ribbon embroidered chemise that looked, from a distance, like it was fashioned from plastic bubble wrap (in a good way).

The rest of the 59 looks were vintage Betsey (pun intended), though the audience didn't seem to mind the fashion deja vu at all. But then, the show's soundtrack - with remixes by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Blondie, the Clash, and even Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson (simultaneously) - was one of the best we'd heard all week, and the audience, which included Fran Drescher, Robert Verdi, Russell Simmons, Reverend Run, Todd Oldham and Joan Jett, hooted and hollered their approval when Johnson took to the stage with granddaughter, Layla, in tow for her semiannual runway cartwheel.

"I don’t wear a lot dresses, so I’m more appreciating the beauty of the clothes and, if I did wear dresses, what I might wear," said a surprisingly tiny Joan Jett when we caught up with her after the show. "But I thought it was beautiful. Really, really nice. And I loved the music!"

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Temperley London: To Russia, With Love

British born designer Alice Temperley was up to her usual tricks in the fall 2007 show she dubbed "Beauty in Exile," which took place Tuesday night at The Promenade in Bryant Park.

But this time around, her sexy, curve-caressing knit dresses were inspired by the exiled Russians who emigrated to Paris in the early 1900s and changed both the culture (via the Ballets Russes) and the way chic Parisians dressed (via the more embellished Russian style, which was worlds away from the Art Nouveau chic favored by Paris trendsetters at the time).

Temperley juxtaposed this sartorial culture clash by way of fitted smoking jackets with teensy weensy skirts, short-sleeved knit dresses over billowy white blouses, cropped jackets over banded-knee knickers and, of course, the elaborately crocheted, lacy intarsia dresses and gowns that have become synonymous with Temperley London, many of which boasted Art Nouveau graphics.

Small cossack hats, shiny black tights, framed handbags, a generous dash of royal blue and burnt orange pieces - some with built-in jeweled collars - and huge bejeweled headpieces furthered the Russians-in-exile theme.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Derek Lam Gehrs Up for Success

"I drive by the Frank Gehry building on the West Side Highway every morning on the way to the office," said Derek Lam of the inspiration behind his stellar fall 2007 collection, presented Tuesday afternoon in the Waterfront Building in Chelsea. "The modernity, the asymmetry, the sense of lightness and structure. The seaming and asymmetrical pieces, highlighting form, all come from that."

While many designers seem to be having an architectural moment this season - Shelly Steffee, Yeohlee, Naum and Diane von Furstenberg, to name a few - only Lam took his cue from an architect whose buildings are so closely associated with New York City.

So it's no wonder that the clothes also had a graphic, modern edge and a decidedly urbane feel. Lam opened with an ivory wool coat with an asymmetrical "holster" that encircled the model's torso, and additional body-defining holsters and harnesses turned up on a cool white shirt dress and draped top, while wide black elastic was used to reign in an asymmetrical gold goddess dress.

Thick silver zippers rose vertically from hem to neck like skyscrapers while contrast merrow seaming, asymmetrical knit ribbing and carefully placed patchwork pieces - leather insets at the knee of riding pants, lamé patches on the torso of dresses - defined the body in an unexpected way.

A few of the gowns Lam sent out as a finale appeared hurriedly finished and didn't fit properly, but that was a minor blip in an otherwise inspired, forward-thinking collection.

Renaissance Romance at Gemma Kahng

In her first runway show in nearly a decade (following an intimate presentation last spring to announce her recently relaunched line), designer Gemma Kahng unveiled a lovely, lyrical collection of couture-level creations in the drawing room of the tony Estonian House in midtown Manhattan on Monday evening.

Focusing primarily on embellished special occasion pieces - with a few well-cut coats and dresses thrown in to the mix - Kahng played to her strengths as a couturier vis-à-vis brocade dresses with puffed velvet sleeves, dresses and suits with sheer tulle necklines, gazar coats paired with sleek velvet leggings, and a killer tulle camisole-sequined leggings look that was the epitome of uptown-downtown chic.

"All the colors and textures and shapes were inspired by Renaissance paintings; Jan van Eyck, artists like that" Kahng explained post-show while accepting congratulatory hugs and kisses from pals like jewelry designer Kazuko, fashion TV personality Lauren Ezersky and Met Museum Costume Institute research associate, Stephane Houy-Towner.

"I had a crash course in Renaissance art history," the designer added with a laugh.

It was obvious from the lovely trio of portrait-worthy mohair-and-tulle bell-shaped gowns she sent out at the end that Kahng is an ace student.

Photos courtesy of Gemma Kahng

Marc Jacobs' Soigné Salon Redux

We know it's not realistic to expect a designer to reinvent the wheel every season. Still, it was depressing to see Marc Jacobs return to his old vintage mash-up tricks after his 2006 collections, which broke brave new ground and set the fashion world on its ear in the best way possible.

On Monday night, however, Jacobs debuted a fall 2007 collection that - while beautifully presented on an enormous set made to resemble the verandah of a very grand mansion, with all 56 models posing together in a Penn-like tableau vivant before walking the length of the runway and disappearing behind a vast French door - felt less like the work of a visionary designer and more like the work of a very skilled re-interpreter.

For haven't we seen these elegant, ladylike silk dresses, tie-front blouses, mannish trousers, reefer coats, skinny jumpsuits, belted pantsuits, cloche and wide-brimmed color-blocked hats and spectator pumps before?

Oh yes, of course. Jacobs turned down the volume for fall and has instead channeled the likes of Virginia Woolf, Daisy Gatsby, Halston and Yves Saint Laurent - with a dash of Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn thrown in for good measure.

Was it pretty to look at and lovely to behold? We have to admit that it was. And the celebrity spotting was a fun pre-show distraction, too, what with the likes of Debbie Harry, Amber Valletta, Helena Christensen, Roberto Cavalli, Zoe and Lenny Kravitz, Rod Stewart, Harry Connick, Jr. and a very glamorous Lee Radziwill sitting in the front row.

But it was also more than a little disappointing to have Jacobs yank us back into the not-so-distant past after several seasons of brilliantly demonstrating what he is capable of in the here and now.

Thakoon Takes Flight

"It was about flight and sport for me," said Thakoon Panichgul backstage after the fall 2007 collection he presented Monday night at the Prince George Ballroom in Murray Hill. "I wanted everything to be about flights of fancy, with lots of shimmer."

Shimmer, it did. And then some. From the opening look (a drop waist dress of feather-printed jacquard) to the last (an ink "swan" dress made entirely of, yes, swan feathers), Thakoon evolved the softly structured volume he introduced for spring with creations that managed to be sophisticated and ethereal at the same time - no easy feat.

A tweed cocoon coat boasted seams that resembled the silhouette of bird's feathers; similar seaming turned up on a short tulip skirt paired with a jacquard sweatshirt - to cool casual-luxe effect - and the flowers that Thakoon was obsessed with last spring reappeared, in sequins this time, on a duchess satin sweatshirt dress (a nod to his athletic theme, as was a cashmere baseball cardigan).

The 2006 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner-up gave a shout-out to his Vogue homegirls in the form of a "Poiret" knit cardigan beneath a chunky cocoon jacket, and a Poiret-inspired georgette "lampshade" dress that will surely be worn by only the bravest fashionistas. (Vogue's Anna Wintour is chairing the upcoming Paul Poiret exhibit at the Met Museum's Costume Institute, and rumor has it that she has asked several designers to make Poiret-inspired frocks for various celebrities and society gals to wear to the opening gala in May, so perhaps Thakoon was warming up for that task).

But the designer soon returned to his aviary theme with pretty peacock-print dresses, fanciful coq feather skirts and the aforementioned swan dress. After all, not everyone's going to want to wear a hoop skirt to what is often billed as The Party of the Year.

Photos by Dan Lecca, courtesy of Thakoon

Sparkly Sportif Chic at Luca Luca

Fall 2007 finds Luca Luca designer Luca Orlandi in a sporty - and sparkly - mood.

In his best collection to date, presented Monday afternoon at the Promenade in Bryant Park, Orlandi opened with a suite of crisp white ski chic looks, complete with goggles, down puffers and knit caps pulled low on the models' smoky eyes, followed by a spangly cowl neck sheath, fox/chiffon blouson over skinny wool trousers, leather-look lurex pants and body-conscious gray dresses, both long-sleeved and short, many trimmed with sequins or boasting shiny trim.

Much in this collection was sequined or made from slightly Space Age-y reflective fabric, in fact, including metallic rayon pants, a shiny taffeta anorak, tinfoil-bright silver leggings worn beneath a silver mink capelet, a knit-trimmed bomber made entirely of matte silver paillettes and a winter white trench with chunky Swarovski-embellished stand-up collar that made it look as though the model was wearing a rock crystal neck brace. There was even a champagne sequined dress seamed with mink, for those who really can't get enough sparkle and fur.

While this may sound tacky, it was not, due to Orlandi's deft tailoring and the impeccable craftsmanship of his team, four of whom shared the stage when it was time to take a bow.

"The people who took the bow are my design assistants," said the Italian-born Orlandi after the show. "They take the bow with me because they do the collection with me. I mean, this is not a one man effort anymore. It’s sincerely too much work and I couldn’t do it anymore alone, like I did when we started. It’s really a major effort by a lot of people and it’s right to share the clapping of the hands."

We agree. And Orlandi is sure to hear more clapping of the hands - and ringing of the cash registers - when this stellar collection hits stores come fall.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

A Singular Oscar de la Renta

We've always found Oscar de la Renta's collections to be lovely, in that safe, uptown-upscale, women-of-a-certain-age kind of way. Which is to say, we've always admired the designer's talent and taste, but have never coveted a single one of his creations, finding them to be a bit too old-fashioned, too old-money and too much, well - how to put it? - our grandmother's Oldsmobile.

But all that changed yesterday when de la Renta presented his fall 2007 collection in The Tent at Bryant Park. From first look to last, it was as if someone had taken de la Renta's Upper East Side creations and dosed them with a shot of Meatpacking District cool, dusting the cobwebs off the House That Oscar Built and breathing fresh new life into a tired old design dog.

The show opened with a poet sleeved sweater and slick tweed skirt ensemble topped by an attitudinal floppy sable hat (hel-lo, my pretty!), and what followed was a wonder to behold. There was Jessica Stam strutting by in a laminated wool tweed jacket and black satin tights accessorized with predatory Wolverine boots and ginormous trapper hat. Laminated tweed also turned up on a long coat trimmed with yet more Wolverine, followed by Hye Park in a cap sleeve burgundy wool bouclé dress that hovered around her hips like a seventh-grade suitor at his first boy-girl dance.

De la Renta streamlined a traditional black peacoat to modern effect, and did the same with a shearling anorak with knit cashmere sleeves. His evening looks took a similarly unexpected turn, as in a black sequined t-shirt paired with a girlie tulle skirt and cool white shoes, and several dresses with their big portrait collars pulled up to one side.

There were also wonderfully inventive fabrics, such as an embroidered black/white/red cocktail dress whose pattern recalled a cityscape at night, and a black-on-black cocktail dress that shimmered like fresh asphalt after a rainstorm.

All told, de la Renta's fall collection was the epitome of uptown luxe. But this time around, downtown types will want in on the action, too.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here

Carolina Herrera's Dark Vision

Citing Edvard Munch's 1889 portrait of Hans Jaeger as inspiration, Carolina Herrera sent out a collection that utilized an uncharacteristically somber palette - lots of gray, grape, bark and black, with a judicious sprinkling of a hue she dubbed "captain blue" - and was equally restrained in its use of frou and embellishment.

That is not to say this collection was staid or boring. Quite the opposite, in fact. By moving away from the sherbet colors she used this spring and jettisoning the mumsy silhouettes of last fall for edgier, more fashion-forward shapes, Herrera seems to be courting a younger - or at least more modern-thinking - client.

Sure, there were plenty of her trademark pretty print dresses and gala-worthy gowns, but there were also lots of mix-and-match separates, some in an unexpectedly cool lamé and soft-focus plaid, along with sleek wool sheaths with unexpected embellishments (from copper disc panels to geometric embroidery).

Herrera also showed plenty of fur, of course, but this time around, in addition to the usual ladies-who-lunch statement coats and Park Avenue princess chubbies, she added knit-edged fox mufflers with built in pockets, and a slouchy, oversized grandpa cardigan edged in fox that looked uber-modern casually tossed over an embroidered chiffon dress - the epitome of uptown-goes-downtown chic.

Interestingly, there was not a single handbag in sight. But then, with a collection this fine, accessories would be superfluous.

Photos © Gg/The Bigger Picture Pictures. For additional, larger images from this show, click here