The Runway Report
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

KENNETH COLE
Kenneth Cole opened Olympus Fashion Week with a Mediterranean palette of white, tan, orange, and light green – but only after his annual montage of political quips, buffeted this year by footage from both the Democratic and Republican conventions.
First down the runway was a series of stark white pieces for men and women. Mr. Cole used puffy nylon parachute fabric for shrunken bomber jackets and long trench coasts. For women’s pants and skirts, the style was tight: pencil skirts clung to the hips and motor pants with raised seams hugged the leg.
Colors such as cantaloupe, tangerine, and butternut dominated the second portion of the show. A jersey dress in squash had inside-out seams that provided texture; seams were prominent on dresses and skirts throughout the collection. After pieces in shades of stone, slate, and rock came looks in the more arresting seafoam, jade, and teal. Among the best was a cotton gauze sweater paired with a cotton pencil skirt – both in seafoam – followed by a men’s cotton suit (flat-front trousers) in the same color.
Mr. Cole veered into stunningly practical territory with a few sharp trench coats. The collection finished off with a series of evening looks in deep navy blue. A cotton jersey dress sported a revealing halter top, but a glamorous matte and shiny silk paneled dress came with a more supportive racer back.
PERRY ELLIS
Color and vintage charm ruled the room at the showing of Perry Ellis’s women’s collection by designer Patrick Robinson. Loaded with pearl and rhinestone baubles around the neck and wrist, the models looked ready for summer cocktails. Lime-green seersucker was used for a pair of pants topped with a light green camisole lined with lace and ribbons. Two jackets in hot pink gave richness to the collection: one came in a brocade fabric (shown with tan Capri pants with bows at the knees) and another in a slightly crinkled fabric. Mr. Robinson seemed to be having some fun with textures, as shown by a tan pencil skirt with vertical cutouts and a heavy brown-and-cream floral skirt. Ruffles were plentiful on a miniskirt and a long cream dress, which was wrapped at the waist with a black-and-white striped bow.
On the men’s side, the look by Jerry Kaye was tailor-made for a Sunset Boulevard cad. Two suits stood out: one in tan-and-orange glen plaid, another in navy wool-blend seersucker with a peaked lapel. For the casual looks, the winner (or at least the most wearable) was a gray-and-white striped sweater worn under a tan car coat with jeans. A crisp navy blue blazer in waffle knit fabric was paired with a clever sweater that was a sort of inverse argyle: against a light green background were diamond shapes of light and dark blue.
TRACY REESE
Wild but sophisticated, the spring 2005 Tracy Reese collection combined nature motifs and kimono-inspired structures with graceful elegance. The winners here were skirts with draped pouf hems that skimmed the knee and spaghetti-strap camisoles with cummerbund waists and extended flat panels at the front. A wine-colored halter dress with a trim of wooden beads and embroidery managed a balance between prim and sexy.
Ms. Reese displayed her playful creativity with fabrics. A deep olive-green strapless dress was shown with large floral appliqué. The same fabric was used for a killer suit with a wide open neck, belted with ribbon and paired with a matching pencil skirt. An intense peacock feather-print slip dress in blue was the sort of thing you can’t take your eyes off of. Gold snakeskin was used for a spring coat as well as tight, tapered pants. A sheer baby-rose print against a cream background made for flouncy, feminine tops. There was one misstep, however: the “Garden of Eden” nature-trail prints screened onto skirts and jackets were a little too “velvet Elvis.”
In a collection so full of color and intense prints, it seems almost unsporting to highlight the little black getup (not quite a dress, though it looked that way at first). Its shape was so stunning, however, that orders are probably being taken at this moment. A black cap-sleeve bolero top was worn with a black camisole, and somehow fabric was draped from the back of the jacket down to the hem of the skirt, making the whole ensemble look like a Gotham version of a kimono. The contrast of the urban and natural worlds was extended with necklaces (strands of rhinestones were draped against strands of wooden beads) and in the beaded trim of several pieces.
SARI GUERON
Over the past year, Sari Gueron has built a reputation as a young designer to watch. Her Fashion Week debut – a champagne reception at the St. Regis Hotel with a tableau vivant of lounging models looking like 1930s debutantes posing for a Cecil Beaton portrait – should elevate her to the starlet status of Derek Lam and Behnaz Sarafpour.
Ms. Gueron is one of the rare designers working today who knows how to create the kind of dress you instantly fall in love with and continue to cherish until it falls apart. Her draped silk and chiffon frocks may be beautiful, but they never cross over into sweet. Nostalgic features such as loose and fluid flapper silhouettes, ruffled necklines, and tiered skirts were expertly balanced with modern touches like racer-cut backs and kimono sleeves. The color palette was rich and earthy, with khaki green, rust, and plum shades. Ms. Gueron’s sleek cuts and sharp details give the looks an elegance that is so effortless you’ll feel as comfortable as if you were wearing your old pajamas.
IMITATION OF CHRIST
The move from offbeat runway venues such as funeral parlors and circus rings to the Bryant Park tents marks a shift away from the aggressively avant-garde for Imitation of Christ’s Tara Subkoff. And while Ms. Subkoff’s clothes have always been very wearable and (at least somewhat) sellable, this was definitely her most commercial collection to date.
There was a strong Hellenic theme, which seems to have carried over from Ms. Subkoff’s pre-Olympics show in Greece last summer. Mini sequined togas, loose slip dresses with empire waists, and pleated smock frocks with pom-pom edges looked straight out of a very stylish production of “Lysistrata.” The retro-inspired garments may not have broken new fashion ground, but Ms. Subkoff’s unerringly hip sensibility made the collection look relaxed and sexy.
The runway presentation showed the designer’s most grown-up and well-adjusted side, but that didn’t mean the event completely lacked the artsy antics that made Imitation of Christ famous. After the last look was shown, the models simply stepped off the runway and walked out on the street to present a Plexiglas cube featuring one lone dress on display. The structure is called “The Imitation of Christ Store” and is an art project in collaboration with Creative Time. The “store” will sell one dress at a time and move around to different venues during Fashion Week (see www.creativetime.org for details). Modern art has never looked so pretty.