Tony Cohen Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

At the Salon in New York Dutch designer Tony Cohen showed he’s a true artist when it comes to making women look beautiful. He also proved he belongs at the New York Fashion Week as one of the few foreign fashion labels.

The models he sent out on the runway all looked very sophisticated and mysterious at the same time. Their hair and make-up and the dark shades (black, grey and Burdury red) they wore created that look. The use of luxurious silk, cashmere and wool added to that feeling.

Cohen’s well-known signature aspects – draping and asymmetry – again were the highlight of the collection. Yet Tony Cohen also introduced a third success item: hand crafted embroideries. He designed embroidered gloves, belts, shoulders and tops decorated with sequins. They made the models look even more elegant and will probably be the aspect of this show we remember the best.

A look from this collection we won’t soon forget either was a short black dress with extremely wide transparent draped sleeves. It really stood out and looked astonishing beautiful. Plus: many women would be able to wear it. And this brings us to the success aspect of the collection: every piece of it was wearable. And since many brands are experimenting with crazy shapes and fabrics we were happy to see some well-made, wearable fashion.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

It looked like Alexander Wang took the traditional banker’s uniform – the darkblue pinstriped suit – deconstructed it and put it together again. The result was sexy and dark, almost with a Belgian touch. But where designers like An Demeulemeester and the early Martin Margiela put a lot of effort in the making, the cut and the fit, it seemed Wang aimed more at the effect. Cropped blazers, tailcoats and vests exposed flashes of skin and were worn with thick thigh-high legwarmers and chunky heels. Layering also played a part in this collection, but was less relaxed. For evening and partywear Wang chose velvet and chenille.