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After enduring a critical mauling for starting his last New York show two hours late, Marc Jacobs was determined to have the last laugh. His show was due to start at 7p so at 7.10 sharp the designer emerged onto the catwalk and personally urged the crowd who included Kevin Federline and star of his current ad campaign Victoria Beckham to take their seats as he wanted to start the show. Five minutes later the first model hit the catwalk. Never in his entire career has a Marc Jacobs show been so prompt and many fashion insiders, accustomed to his usually extreme tardiness, arrived after the show had started and were denied entry. A fuming Rachel Zoe, the celebrity stylist was one of those left outside. What she missed was a “moment” – although it was more of a musical one than a fashion one. The models walked the runway to the sounds of Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth thrashing and twirling and bashing their way thorough a riotous live set. In contrast, the clothes were serene and elegant. The soft, elongated silhouettes came in pale neutrals – a refreshing look for winter. And if last season’s collection expressed Jacobs appreciation for Comme des Garcons, then this one brought to mind some of Yohji Yamamoto’s more graceful creations. CLAUDIA CROFT
Karan is known for her sensual, flattering and womanly clothes, but her autumn/winter 2008 collection looked more droopy than drapey. The show majored on soft, silky fabrics and unstructured shapes but Instead of looking elegant and easy, the clothes appeared to drown the very young models on Karan’s catwalk. Womanly chic simply doesn’t look good on skinny girls. CLAUDIA CROFT
The Ralph Lauren presented one show with three distinct moods. It opened with chic, city tailoring, neat shifts and fitted suits all accessorised with feathered hats by Philip Treacy. This formal daywear was followed by good-looking casualwear, in the shape of rugged but chic lumberjack check coats and jackets, which could have been inspired by life on Ralph’s Double RL Ranch in Colorado. The checks continued into the finale, which focused on Lauren's idea of modern grandeur. He took hourglass belle époque silhouettes, decluttered them and rendered in ultra light tulle and chiffon. The collection covered many bases but it showed the breadth of Lauren’s world. CLAUDIA CROFT
Francisco Costa’s collection was all about shape. Fitted shirts and coats came in felted wool, which was moulded into sculptural shape – a technique which allowed him to smooth sharp tailored lines and angles into curvaceous silhouettes. The best pieces came at the end with a trio of floor length gowns made from supple knife pleated fabric in lustrous metallic hues. They looked gorgeous in motion as the pleats, rolled and flowed like liquid. Costa’s collection was architectural, but not linear and masterfully done. CLAUDIA CROFT
He may be the king of whimsical, boho chic, but Matthew Williamson’s autumn\winter 08 collection showed that he could also turn his hand to urban edginess. His signature prints went beyond the usual prettiness, despite being inspired by the genteel art of needlepoint embroidery. Williamson gave them plenty of oomph by blowing them up large so instead of twee, they looked high-tech and pixelated. He also sexed up sheepskin coats and jerkins (these were the strongest pieces in the collection) by giving them a shiny laminate sheen. Other key covetable pieces included the sexy, swingy mini skirts and streetwise parkas glammed up with luscious fox fur trim. CLAUDIA CROFT 
Can pretty ever be cool? In the hands of the fashion sisters behind art house label Rodarte the answer is a resounding yes. The designers specialise in punky romanticism. For that read cobweb knits and leggings worn with pretty, pouffed out skirts, delicate blouses and full on fetish heels. Rodarte stands out on the New York schedule as a label that has it’s own, very singular aesthetic. Its delicate, fragile clothes explore the dark side of whimsy. The show marked a welcome return to the catwalk for Karen Elson. The Manchester born supermodel and wife of White Stripes front man Jack White, has taken time off to have two babies. CLAUDIA CROFT
Proenza Shouler provided the first real fashion moment of New York fashion week. The show, had atmosphere. Models, eyes rimmed with electric blue shadow, walked a thin corridor of catwalk, which dissected the cavernous hall of the uptown armoury. The show had a starry front row dominated by Rihanna, currently number one in the US charts with her latest release and it also had plenty of directional trends. Wide trousers and sequins for day and evening played a major role as did mini dresses embellished with dense folds of fabric and deep jewel tones. The pair also displayed a fascination for the inner workings of things, showing coats that were deliberately designed to look inside out. It was a confident collection full of ideas. CLAUDIA CROFT
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If you were ever in any doubt about what the Halston label stands for then a quick glance at the show notes offered clarity. Words like chinchilla, sable, silk/cashmere and lizard appear over and over. Luxury is most definitely on the agenda for this label that is now on it’s sixth revival since the death of founder Roy Halston Frowick in 1990. What’s makes this comeback different from the previous five is that it might just stand a chance. The team behind it don’t do failure. Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has provided the backing, Tamara Mellon the fashion strategy and Rachel Zoe the A-list clients.
The designer Marco Zanini also has a good pedigree in upscale glamour, having been Donatella’s right had man at Versace.
His vision for Halston never strayed from minimalist simplicity and ultra-luxury that the house was known for in the seventies. The aesthetic too, was seventies to the core, something that pleased Liza Minnelli, a relic from that era and original Halston fan. She sat pride of place in the front row and let out a whoop for the opening outfit – a chinchilla and cashmere knit cape with matching over the knee suede boots. The neutral palette of soft pastels and which included a special shade of Halston grey (it errs on the brown side which gives it a flattering warmth) and the quality of the fabrics added an expensive gloss to everything yet for all it’s determination to stick to the sleek minimal brief, the collection lacked charisma. But maybe it doesn’t need it. www.net-a-porter has all but sold out of the two runway pieces that, in a revolutionary move, went on sale directly after the show. This collection has already found a customer. CLAUDIA CROFT
Women the world over look to Diane Von Furstenberg for wardrobe solutions and she’s built her brand on providing them but DVF likes to have a little fun with her label too. For Autumn Winter 08 she quite literally overlayed her wearable clothes with a strong Forties theme. Almost everything in the show including her signature dresses was worn with a strong shouldered jacket or coat cinched at the waist with a skinny belt. If at times this enforced forties theme was a little heavy handed, then so be it. DVF wants the world to know that she’s a go-to brand for tailoring as well soft dresses. CLAUDIA CROFT
DKNY is a great brand for trend watchers. After watching the label’s pacey little presentation, I can tell you that come autumn 08, textured knits, will have taken over from chunky ones and everyone will be wearing wide seventies inspired trousers with blouses and tank tops. When it comes to prints, the idea will be to will be to mixed them up on one outfit and no fashionable head will be without it’s over sized knitted beanie hat. Amen. CLAUDIA CROFT
New York is a tough town for a small designer brand - even tougher for a small British designer brand. Sunday saw two UK exports try and melt the icy hearts of Manhattan’s fashion pack. Both Preen and Jonathan Sunders have won easy plaudits from the home crowd at London Fashion Week, but cutting it here in New York, where power and product rule is not easy. Of the two, Jonathan Saunders came off best. Power came in the person of Anna Wintour, the influential American Vogue editor who sat in the front row. Her magazine has smoothed Saunders’ way into the American market by introducing his clothes to its readers. And when it came to product Saunders didn’t disappoint. For his New York debut, he focused on lean silhouettes and created a look that was sleek but not minimal. Surface interest came in blocks and panels of contrasting fabrics, which gave the collection an architectural feel. For decoration, he added crisp concentrations of sunray pleats on the shoulders or at the hips. It would have been nice to see more of the designer’s signature prints which this season looked like they were inspired by the great American painter Jasper Johns. Saunders was obviously in a New York state of mind and his confident collection of grown up, sophisticated and structured clothes have real appeal here.
This was Preen’s second New York show but judging by the number of empty front row seats, the label’s brand of slouchy modernism has yet to strike a chord with the US fashion pack. Perhaps they can’t get a strong enough fix on who Preen are and where they stand in the grand scheme of things. The silk jumpsuits and dressing gown coats worn with barely-there lace camisoles were a repeat of the last spring/summer collection and many of the softer, draped dresses put Preen firmly in the Stella McCartney school of femininity. They weren’t done badly but the collection needed more direction and it needed to assert Preen’s unique design DNA in a more forceful way. That DNA is there – the best pieces were the very wantable lumberjack check coats that opened the show - a reminder that this brand does great outerwear. CLAUDIA CROFT
Coming soon! Or not that soon, in the case of London...
(Picture from Richard Gin)
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