NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- At the bustling event that is Fashion Week, beauty was found in the smallest details.
Old-fashioned dressmaking touches, such as pintucks and pleats, showed up in multiple collections previewed Saturday.
Ralph Lauren's 40th anniversary show was one of the highlights of the week. The theme was a day at the races and his attention to detail was evident in the clothes and the star-studded, black-tie party that followed.
Earlier, Catherine Malandrino displayed a knack for artistry, and drama, with a neckline decorated with fabric beads that looked like jasmine buds. At J. Mendel, presented Friday, designer Gilles Mendel is known to hand-pleat gowns himself.
Macy's fashion director Nicole Fischelis said she thought customers would appreciate the details in the Max Azria collection, such as the pintucks on the front of a pretty sheath dress or the ruffles added to a blazer at the hip.
New York Fashion Week lasts eight days, previewing the spring-summer looks of 100 or so designers for fashion editors, retail buyers and stylists.
To mark his 40 years in fashion, Ralph Lauren envisioned a day at the races.
Some models wore oversized hats with garden-party dresses, one of the best being a pale-blue floral printed silk plisse gown with a halter neckline and ruffled jabot, while others wore menswear-style jackets, ascots and tailored trousers. Spatlike shoes completed the look.
The jockeys were even represented with crystal-embellished jodhpurs, a yellow jersey dress with an equestrian print, and a bright pink equestrian-print taffeta jacket with splashes of blue, white, green and yellow, and a peplum at the hip.
Spring '08 features more colors than Lauren has shown in years.
The clothes, however, were secondary to recognizing Lauren's long tenure at the top of an industry always looking for the next big thing.
Lauren is one of the ``nicest, warmest and loveliest'' in the fashion world, said von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
``He is so successful because he lives his fantasy with such passion. I just love him,'' she said.
When it came time to take his bow, against the backdrop of a lengthy standing ovation, Frank Sinatra's tune ``The Best Is Yet To Come'' was coming out of the speakers.
Rebecca Taylor's style is growing up. At the preview of her spring collection, Taylor offered a sophisticated, muted color palette. She also toned down the bells and whistles she often uses to jazz up outfits.
Taylor tapped into the color-blocking trend that has proven so popular so far, turning out a lovely lean shift with an indigo top, black skirt and beads in an abstract peony design around the neck.
The peony was one of the common threads throughout the show. It was also on a rose-colored tank top with a zipper down the back and on a silk T-shirt dress.
``There was an amazing use of color,'' said Gina Kelly, fashion director for Seventeen magazine. ``She's known for her soft colors, so this was a nice surprise.''
A black beaded bomber jacket with a midnight-blue satin skirt might be a bit dressy for the lives of Taylor's typical customer, but in this day of starlets-as-fashion icons, one never knows.
Catherine Malandrino's spring collection offered a garden's variety of looks, all rooted in the colors of tangerine, olive and geranium that the designer said evoke the peacefulness she associates with a small town in the south of France.
A white blouse with a neckline decorated with fabric beads that looked like jasmine buds paired with an organza skirt with scalloped tiers showed her mastery of handicraft, and a green gown with a neckline adorned with beads mimicking lemons, limes and grapes showed her sense of humor.
But she might have crossed the line into too avant garde to be wearable with overwrought balloon sleeves on jackets that she paired with slim pencil skirts. No one would want to sit next to someone wearing them, especially at these crowded fashion shows.
Marking the 75th anniversary of the Lacoste label, creative director Christophe Lemaire looked back at the crocodile's life and created a path for its future in the spring collection.
The brand has its roots in country club sports such as golf and tennis, and Lemaire found new inspiration in the spirit of Basque region of southwestern France, home to the golf club Chantaco.
The white outfits that opened the show, a white blazer with a white ribbon edge and ankle-length trim white pants on the man, and a white blazer paired with a crisp A-line skirt on the woman, surely would have fit the Chantaco dress code then and now.
Lacoste also offered high-waisted gingham shorts and super-short tennis dresses for women and colorful flat-front pants rolled into a tapered shape above the ankle for men.
The best visual from the show was the finale: a rainbow of brightly colored polos, tennis shorts, bathing suits and cover-ups, representing the core of what Lacoste is always likely to be.
Cynthia Rowley's fashion show is always a trip. This time around, she sent the models down the runway on bicycles _ high heels and all.
Rowley is known to add a little kitsch to her collections, biking and summer sports seemed to be on her mind on Friday. There was a tennis frock and a crew-team sweater.
Long T-shirt dresses were among the standout items. ``Ringlet'' dresses with loops of fabric as the embellishment didn't fare so well.
When the looks turned dressier, Rowley turned a chain-link print, surely inspired by a bicycle chain, into a surprisingly serviceable canvas for cocktail dresses.
Even the pantsuits were looser and more relaxed, and models wore them with rolled legs so they could hop on the bike just like a green-minded commuter.
The jewelry featured in the show all came from eBay, another nod to ``recycling.''
Many of the items were retro painted enamel, and will be donated to 7th on Sale, the fashion industry's fundraising initiative for HIV and AIDS organizations. They'll go on sale Nov. 15 at www.7thonSale.eBay.com.
A woman's lingerie is not supposed to be seen by the outside world. Apparently, Max Azria thinks that's a waste of often feminine, delicate garments.
Azria turned a slew of lingerie looks into springtime outfits for his runway show held Friday, with an emphasis on dainty slip dresses and silky charmeuse fabric. In the audience were Nicole Richie, Molly Sims and Carrie Underwood.
Azria and his wife Lubov, who co-designs this more upscale collection than their BCBG line, also favored the subtle earth-tone palette, with grays, taupes, creams and blacks, adding blush and rose as accents.
There were a few outfits, though, that risked looking a little too much like loungewear to be worn outside. Hammered satin blouses and cropped pants with camisoles underneath come to mind.
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