Derek Lam at NY Fashion Week: Fall 2011 Collection (With Video)
Derek Lam's Fall 2011 Collection which was presented at NY Fashion Week this morning was nothing short of glamorous.
"In this collection, I have used new combinations to make clothes that look fresh, fluid, weightless, yet also appropriate for the Fall/Winter season," says Lam. "Some of the new combinations are logical: sleeves and backs of heavier weight clothing are made of slippery cloths. The usual layering of clothes are lightened, the arm slips easily under coats; the bulk is eliminated where you don't want it."
There were tunics in flannel, doubleface jersey and military gabardine that were combined with liquid twills and laundered poplins on bottom. Dresses were sewn with jersey bodices attached to wool felt skirts and vice versa so they look sleek and also tailored. Evening dresses had leather bodices, with laundered satin or poplin full skirts, for a kind of raw and casual glamour.
"I think that Derek Lam is one of the great American designers who has given American Fashion Week something very unique and sophisticated," Andre Leon Talley, Contributing Editor to Vogue, told Luxist backstage after the show. "The clothes are modern and they give modernity a new definition. They are clothes for women who work, who are grown up and who are refined. The sense of luxury of fabric is extraordinary. The glace leva jean skirt is one of my favorites. A varsity stripe on a trouser with a red leather car coat is wonderful and is the way women want to dress. I think he is exceptional. I am always more and more impressed each season with his work and I think this is one of his most outstanding moments in his career."
Lam took advantage of several new fabrics recently created by mills. For example the designer used a silk poplin was woven with nylon to take a plain cloth and give it a washed and warm look, while still feeling crisp. Viscose was added to silk twill, making the cloth less formal, more rugged. Cupro was added to satin silk yarns creating a weightless fabric.
"These fabrics challenged me to find new solutions to construct and finish clothing," Lam explains. "The full body of these fabrics demanded less tailoring, less fussing over. Some of them are like mercury; they slip from the hand if you try to wrestle them to conform."
Derek Lam is available online, at Derek Lam boutiques in Soho and on Madison Avenue in New York. Derek Lam is also available at Barneys New York and Bergdorf Goodman stores.
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