NY Fashion Week: Style on the move

A nice hot cuppa at Victoria Beckham; a celebration of New York City at Public School and social media rules at DKNY: highlights of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2015 in NY

Every Brit knows there’s nothing like a cuppa on a bitter cold day. And so, guests at Victoria Beckham’s runway show on Sunday morning were treated to hot tea — in glass cups — as they arrived at Cipriani Wall Street on the coldest New York City day in years.

As for the fashions, they were warm, too, but the fall-winter fabrics were given a sexy twist, falling closer to the body than usual. Beckham also used slits and cutouts to bare a little more skin that one normally sees in winter fashions. Draping was fanciful, including a very pretty sarong-like effect from the waist down on some dresses.

Beckham, in a post-show interview, said if there were one word to describe the collection, it would be “Bounce.”

“By bounce, I mean fabrics that are young and fresh,” Beckham said backstage, where she greeted her handsomely dressed sons, her young daughter, and hubby David Beckham, in a sleek long topcoat.

“I love the texture,” Beckham continued. “They’re light as well. It’s very important that, yes, these things look good on the catwalk, but I’m selling clothes all around the world. I have to take into account the weight of fabrics. So that bouncy fabric is really nice and wearable. “

Beckham professed to having a little more fun this time around. “I wanted to play,” she said. “So I have lots of very sexy, tightly fitted dresses. You know I did have a little bit of fun and I think you can see that.” She’s hearing, she said, that her clothes are starting to draw a younger customer, as well as her usual fan base.

“I think I’ve come a long way,” she said. “I’m really proud of myself and my team.” 

DKNY GOES SOCIAL MEDIA CRAZY

The backdrop of Sunday’s DKNY runway was a screen with a simple question: “What is New York?”

That was before the show. As the models walked, the screen projected live tweets from the audience with a multitude of answers.

“Everything all the time,” was one offering. Another: “Expectations are high and the heels are higher.”

Donna Karan’s more casual and less expensive line, when compared to her signature collection, was a mixture for fall of asymmetrical cuts and loose silhouettes. She didn’t stray from classic cold weather colors, showing beige, black and grey, punctuated by splashes of turquoise, purple and red.

The line is for the woman on the move that needs a versatile wardrobe for her day-to-day life.

“I think it is for that woman who rocks and rolls, goes to work, goes out at night and is ready for anything but has a confidence in herself, which I think ... is most important — that she is self-confident — to be able to pull all those clothes together,” Karan said in an interview. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL ELEVATES WOMENSWEAR

Public School put the cool in shades of grey, the name of the design duo’s production company and a signature palette that now extends seamlessly to their third season doing womenswear.

 Impeccable grey and black bomber jackets, puffer coats and anoraks came in wool and nylon for both sexes, covering long tunics with side slits and maxi-length pleated skirts on Saturday.

 Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne have been celebrating the streets of their New York City since Public School was founded in 2008 and that hasn’t changed, but their latest collection for fall felt somehow grown up — without a loss of street cred.

 Switching headspace for the ladies has not been a problem, the two said after the show.

Chow said the two will never break from the Public School “code,” in color and cut, but wanted to go deep into the ‘90s this time and explore the dance cypher world, a convergence of streets styles done in groups.

 “It was about freedom to really explore our past,” he said, “and to add on.” 

JOSEPH ALTUZARRA’S DANDIES AND SWANS

In fox fur and houndstooth, the luxury ready-to-wear golden boy evoked the dandies of the 18th century and the inner-circle “swans” of Truman Capote.

Would Gloria Vanderbilt, Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill or Gloria Guinness feel right in his long, camel wool flannel coat with the flounce hem and outsized sapphire fur collar? How about the caramel houndstooth blazer with a single button?

Well, yeah. But they’d probably lose the white leather knee-high lace-up boots and see-through Chantilly lace blouses that accompanied some standout skirts and fur jackets.

 The Paris-born Altuzarra launched his brand in New York in 2008. He brings his multicultural roots - Mom is Chinese -American and Dad is French Basque — to most collections, but this one tasted just a bit more like good ‘ole apple pie.

There was a show of Tibetan sequin embroidery in ‘70s swingy chiffon dresses done in navy, burgundy and pale blue, along with a touch of delicate velvet. But it was his lush fur collars on coats, flippy hems on coats and skirts and feminine touches in lace, like a keyhole opening on blouses, that made the fall collection stand out from previous turns.