I finished my first day at Fashion Week with two shows yesterday evening—Farah Angsana and Concept Korea.
Indonesian born Angsana presented a collection of uber-sexy cocktail dresses and gowns. A super-short, flapper-esque cocktail dress adorned with Swarovski crystals and metal chain embroidery led the show, followed by an array of other cut-up-to-here minidresses with lots of layering and texture.
Angsana’s longer dresses included a dazzling gold number with a disco vibe, while a green goddess dress really popped, especially since it was topped off with an ornate gold headpiece. The final dress, a sparkly green-and-gold mini, was so short, I could see the model’s bottom—very Britney Spears, circa 2007.
Front Row Roll Call: Alex McCord and her husband, Simon Van Kempen, of “The Real Housewives of New York.”
At Concept Korea, the show product of a partnership between the South Korean government and the CFDA, three Korean designers—Kwak Hyun Joo (Pucca), Lee Juyong (RESURRECTION) and Lee Jean Youn--presented their collections. The shows were certainly a bit more avant garde than those of many of the designers’ American counterparts.
Kwak Hyun Joo’s Pucca collection began with a model in a green, Little Red Riding Hood-esque mini dress, holding an apple. Unfortunately, about halfway down the runway, the poor dear had a Naomi Campbell moment and fell flat on her behind. Yikes!
The rest of the collection had the same cartoonish feel—tops with anime-type characters printed on them, neon mesh pants and cutoff booty shorts.
Lee Juyong’s RESURRECTION menswear line featured lots of black, with layers of deconstructed suit pieces—cutoff button-downs and the like. Skirts were layered over pants, and pockets sewn on the exterior of pants gave an inside-out feel. Gladiator sandals, some in electric blue, along with croc man bags topped off the looks.
The final, and most dramatic of the three designer shows was Lee Jean Youn’s. It began with models in all black—some in feathered cocktail dresses, some in sheer pants and floppy, black, wide-brimmed hats. As they walked out on the runway, the models lined up along one side, while almost-creepy organ-tinged club beats played. The whole thing had an eerie funeral feel. The next group of models lined up along the other side of the runway, all clad in light colors—coral, peach, white—some with veils. The music changed to a lighter, more celebratory beat, giving this batch of looks a wedding feel. The contrast of the two standing next to each other along the runway was quite stunning.
Front Row Roll Call: Celebrity stylist and television host, Robert Verdi and socialite Emma Snowdon Jones.
