The Leftovers: New York Fashion Week FW11

When looking back, the tendency can be to view decades as some sort of monolith or as set historical periods that don’t need parsing. Yet each of those ten years is full of its own series of small revolutions, and rarely does what we consider a decade end as we move from the last nine to the next zero. Nothing about the end of a decade, or its beginning, is ever so sharp. (I’ve always thought that one of the strongest markers of the end of the 1980s was the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind in September of 1991. It reached number one on the Billboard charts in January of the following year.)

And so the 1970s, which saw Nixon and Watergate and Carter and the Iran hostage crisis, possess a complexity that cannot be ignored. The clothes of the era are not devoid of this intricacy. That monolithic idea of the era could be felt throughout many of the collections.

1970s

At Steven Alan

At Peter Som

At Tommy Hilfiger

At Chris Benz

At Rodarte

At Oscar de la Renta

Alongside these more overt references, there were other trends that when looked at in the correct light, also displayed a connection to the time. The silhouettes were looser. The lengths were longer. The waistlines were higher.

Long skirts

At St. John

At Vena Cava

At Prabal Gurung

At Carlos Miele

Sequined Pants

At Peter Som

At Erin Fetherston

At Douglas Hannant

At Michael Kors

There was also a color story on the runway. Instead of the many colors that were seen in some of the Spring/Summer 2011 collections, this New York season was about one color. Between cherry and fire engine live a group of reds that were seen on everything from shorts to pants to dresses.

At Wes Gordon

At Rebecca Minkoff

At Prabal Gurung

At Sophie Theallet

At Elie Tahari

At Bill Blass

The color blocking trend seen in the Pre-Fall collections rippled into the Fall/Winter collections. At times the colors were vibrant and striking. At other times, they spoke only of subtlety.

At BCBG Max Azria

At Costello Tagliapietra

At Jill Stuart

At Sophie Theallet

At Proenza Schouler

At Preen

At Narciso Rodriguez

At Tibi

At Calvin Klein

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