Christian Siriano Fall 2015

According to Siriano's show notes this collection was inspired by the Congo jungle and the home of silverback gorilla along with plant life that surrounds the environment. Now all designers need inspiration, but for the client Mr. Siriano is aiming for; he may have missed the mark at least in his evening wear. As for the day it's strong consistent and works perfectly for the season. His opening Tiger wool cashmere leaf collar coat set the African tone as did his safari textured crepe open-back dolman sleeve blouse. In short the daywear shines but when evening came it seems his design hand did a dramatic shift. I do not know if he's shooting for red carpet looks but the opulence and drama was lacking which is something we have seen in previous seasons.

Leila Shams Fall 2014 Pushing The Envelope

It seems that old man winter locked me out of this show due to the cold weather and snow but thanks to the wonders of technology and PR the collection came to me! Leila Shams is a new designer on my radar screen and from what can be seen from this and previous collection is she's not afraid to try new design ventures. Granted some hit and some miss (we can win the race all the time), for fall 2014 Ms Shams has ventured into knits which I do enjoy but hoped they would be more uniform in nature. As for the strongest piece it has to be her red leather moto-style jacket! Every woman should have one and with her color shift this makes this piece editorial friendly as well the black leather pants. As well the collection is dotted with dressed and other separates; but the main feeling here is that you have to have a confidence and spirit to slip into these clothes and it's something I really like.

Photos: Dan Lecca

En Noir Fall 2014 Safety Dance

Relative new design house En Noir showed and small and safe collection for Fall 2014 at the Armory on 67th street and Park Ave. The entire collection is done in different shades of black and pretty much has a focus on coats and jackets which all men need. It seems that the house has a good understanding of what men want and more so how they might shop. Making easy choices for men is a plus and translates into quicker sales, I myself enjoy getting in and getting out of a shopping experience as quickly as possible.

For women they showed a few looks which seem to have a bit more flair and seem to take more design chances than on the mens side, but let's remember women are much different shoppers than the guys. Either way its a good staple collection and reinforces the statement "when in doubt, dress in black".

Photos: Thomas Kletecka

Ann Yee Fall 2014

Amid terrible weather condition designer Ann Yee presented her fall 2014 collection to a snow beaten group of fashion editors and photographers. Yee is a new designer on my radar screen but demonstrates focus and direction in her designs. Her dominant color is grey scale which in photographic terms represents white to black and everything in-between.

The standout pieces and there are quite a few are her knit creations and her black and white print jacket. In regards to the kint pieces she seems to have chosen a good gauge regarding the weight of the knits, they are not thin but not overly chunky and have a relaxed comfy yet stylish feel to them.

Working in this grey scale color palette allows many possibilities but moreso continues the fall color trend we have been seeing in seasons past. When in doubt always wear black but now you can add grey to the mix. This was a short sweet and to the point collection, just what this editor loves!

VOZ S/S 2014

Voz a relative new comer to fashion week showed a small focused collection for Spring, their first as a matter of fact. The inspiration draws upon a earth and a sand colored color palette which creative director Jasmine Aarons found via Mapuche.

Showing roughly 20+ pieces Ms. Aarons did not overwhelm the crowd and kept things focused, a benefit is the restrictive color choice and willfully deciding to show only a few prints. One that stood out was a dark brown organic style print, as well their sweater dress.

Voz might not be out to set the world on fire; but we all have to wear clothing and want to look nice, this line fills that need.

Rebecca Taylor S/S 2014

It's always nice to find some strong key pieces in a collection that a woman can rely on and that's what Rebecca Taylor gave us for her S/S 2014 collection. Standouts were her sleeveless motorcycle vest, her floral dresses and solid color white pants. The only pieces I had a hard time wrapping my head around were the micro mesh and fabric pieces she combined, which seems to be a trend for the upcoming spring season. It might not be for every woman but there's enough variety to make most women happy.

Jonathan Cohen S/S 2014~Going Home

For S/S 2014 Jonathan Cohen revisited his hometown of San Diego and pulled inspiration for Tom Wolfe's " The Pumphouse Gang" a book based on surf culture in California. It seems from talking to him a major takeaway was the design and construction of surf boards which he infused into the collection as well a print from an old VW bus he photographed himself.

Once again he's producing a small collection for spring and playing things pretty close to the vest which I can understand from a business point of view. As for the line, yet again his strongest pieces are his concept of color and how he transforms them into prints. His t-shirt tops are yet again fun and playful, my personal favorite are the naked cartoon surfer girls. In the end he's doing his own thing which is hard to find in a world of Anna Wintour pleasing designers! Oh and yes he did land in Vouge!

Daniel Vosovic Fall 2013 After The Love Is Gone...

For fall Daniel Vosovic showed a strong collection that should make most women happy. There's a strong motorcycle jacket and some great slacks and prints. From the looks of it there's some nice fabric choices which make things seem well tailored and I love well tailored clothing period! But my one question is why did Mr. Vosovic decide to show a month after the tents came down in Lincoln Center?

Fashion week is a much different monster then what it was twelve years ago and for those of us who have put in the years we have all seen the changes; and its not for the better. Time slots are triple or quadruple booked, fashion GPS technology has for some (myself included) made fashion week harder to control and the show week is just as Rachel Zoe might say "cray cray, bananas"!!

Was this a simple choice or was this a cold hard reality slap to Mr. Vosovic basically stating that if he were to show during fashion week, his chances of getting a crowd or getting exposure were next to nil? Much like a horse handicapper trying to pick the winner of a 21 horse field and all the horses threats, in effect "passing the race".

With this decision being made to show a month after fashion week ended in New York City, as to writing this review I see only two other reviews that posted up on google. Truth be told Daniel HAD to do something! One does not let potentially $20K die on the view by not showing their collection. But with the full season now over, the editors, buyers and photographers are burnt out and probably don't want to see anything fashion related for at least a month and as for buyers spending coffers there probably dried up for the season. So with all this, the question remains why or is there something bigger going on here.

"If Mr. Vosovic had buyers come into his studio during fashion week and place orders then this was a chance for him to "show the collection" for the sake of showing it, but if there were no buyers then this might have been a exercise in futility." as stated by Phillip D Johnson editor of www.fashionpluslifestyle.wordpress.com when asked about this topic.

By Mr. Vosovic doing what he's done actions speak louder than words, the fashion industry in the respect of fashion week is broken. More times than not young designers have already lost the race before they show their collections, due to the fact of a over booked fashion week calendar. One has to be crazy to show between a block of major designers since the A List crowd is going to those shows while the B and C list plus crashers venture to other shows.

My long standing idea is to extend fashion week but it seems the Jewish holidays either colide or come to close to when London begins but in the end something should be done. I don't feel its fair for any designer to not have a fair shot of showing a collection. Granted some have deeper pockets then other but something has to give!

Daniel Vosovic is a good designer and he's been around at least eighth to ten years but by showing after fashion week has ended speaks volumes to a bigger issue at hand. All men might be created equal but are all fashion designers?

Yuming Weng~Academy of Art University

My second pick from Academy of Art University is Yuming Weng who hails from China. She does not have any background in working with any named designers so it seems the natural talent is just there within her.

The inspiration for her collection by Henrietta Harris' soft distorted portraits, now I don't know of her inspiration but her choice of color and the use of "ripple-cut" and boiled wool impressed me greatly. Yuming knows how to structure garments which creates lines and proportions seen by other more established designers. As well the limited color choice of silver, stone and pewter shows a color direction which worked well for her.

Photos: Randy Brooke

Academy of Art University~Heather McDonald

Thank goodness for the internet and friends in some what high places that I got a chance to view this young lady's wonderful 9 piece collection which she showed at Mercedes~Benz Fashion Week. Heather McDonald who hails from Alberta Canada earned a Bachelor degree in Biology and Anthropology from University of Toronto but then continued her education at Academy of Art with a degree in Fashion and Knitwear. While getting her degree she did internships at VPL in New York City.

Her collection is inspired from the 1927 movie Metropolis which explores the relationship between humans and technology. Granted I have seen this inspiration before but Heather seems to understand it better and it shows with her debut collection.

Photos: Randy Brooke

Mathieu Mirano Fall 2013~On The Radar

Sometimes fashion is like horse racing (my favorite sport) and you get a hot tip on a designer. This happened to me last season when a fellow editor told me about Mathieu Mirano, I was sure to catch his presentation this season. Well true to form; the tip was correct and Mr. Mirano showed a small concise collection which demonstrated focus, color restriction and a balance so to say in his designs.

There were only 23 look in his presentation but when you factor in the "less is more" concept it works well in his favor! Being a relative new designer he seems to be playing the current design/retail market smartly and showing just enough.

Aside from his laser like focus on design he's not afraid to "shake the reigns" and offer some red carpet contenders for upcoming award seasons.

Looks that caught my eye the most were his Long multicolor sequin gown (red carpet) as well Stingray embroidered strapless gown. As for a day look the Black merino and metallic grid sweater with Black stretch leather leggings seemed so New York City.

Photos: Richard Spiegel

Nautica Returns To The Runway~Fall 2013

It's been quite some time since the house of Nautica has done a runway show, granted they have taken care of us editors and photographers for quite some time with lavish presentations, which I fully appreciate. As for what they sent down the runway is a much needed commodity in menswear which is great looking outerwear.

If your looking for heavy looking style cable knit style sweaters and smartly cut overcoats, Nautica delivered a full house of these styles! All the colors are regular guy friendly and keep with the bold color Nautica theme we have seen for many a season.

A few looks that caught my eye were the blue/black ski parka and the salt & pepper overcoat as well the semi indoor dark grey jacket paired with white pants.

Photos: Richard Spiegel