A bunch of lists and superlatives I have been mentally compiling throughout the year...

Favorite Spring/Summer Collections



Jil Sander, Narciso Rodriguez, Marios Schwab, Comme des Garcons, Balenciaga, Lanvin; images from style.com

1. Balenciaga: for the bold florals and daring new silhouette. (See my earlier post.)

2. Prada: for its emotional resonance and the play between the sweet and the perverse.

3/4. Maison Martin Margiela/Jil Sander: Martin Margiela and Raf Simons of Jil Sander both explored ideas of transparency and nudity in their collections (in a more tantalizing and controlled way than Marc Jacobs did). Margiela's clothes were aggressive and sexy: horizontal bandaged strips of stretchy material that looked like foundation garments and jeans so shredded they looked like they were disintegrating on the models -- style.com's Sarah Mower called these the " 'ghosts' of garments"; I can't think of a more lovely or perfect metaphor. Simons' clothes were more ethereal, comprising layers of tulle and organza. His rigorous tailoring and saturated colors -- hot pinks, oranges, and royal blue -- kept the clothing from becoming too frou-frou.

5. Dries Van Noten: For the innovative, exuberant use of prints.

6/7. Lanvin/John Galliano: For purely aesthetic purposes (and for the craftsmanship).

8. Narciso Rodriguez: Luxe minimalism, streamlined and seductive. His best collection yet (which is saying quite a lot).

9. Marios Schwab: For the abstract-looking prints really comprising veins, muscles, tissue, and thermo-images of body heat. Brings a whole new meaning to "body-con" dressing.

10. Comme des Garçons: For the unabashed, gleeful embrace of the random, chaotic, and anarchist.


Other collections/moments I liked


Alexander McQueen, Anne Klein, Christopher Kane; style.com

Alexander McQueen's homage to his late muse Isabella Blow
Anne Klein's art attack
Louise Goldin's gorgeous, sexy knits
Christopher Kane's compelling new ugly/pretty aesthetic
Oscar de la Renta's tribal prints
The Marc Jacobs controversy

Noteworthy Newcomers

Louise Goldin
Chris Benz
Preen: not quite new, but first time showing in NY

Favorite Fall/Winter Collections



Balenciaga, Undercover, John Galliano, Lanvin, Nina Ricci, Proenza Schouler; style.com

1. Balenciaga: Prep school + warrior woman. Made me actually want a pair of jodhpurs.

2. Comme des Garçons: surrealism + eroticism + kawaii

3. Undercover: Hi-tech materials to regulate body temperature, innovative waterproof knits, gorgeous textures, sexy shapes

4. Lanvin: It's all in the sleeve. 80s nostalgia without the kitsch.

5. John Galliano: Gorgeous, ridiculous, romantic decadence

6/7. Narciso Rodriguez/Jil Sander: Sleek, sexy, modern; minimalism at its best

8. Nina Ricci: "Urban and gray-ish, but nonchalant, fragile, and superlight," said designer Olivier Theyskens of this first collection for Nina Ricci. Ethereal and impossibly beautiful.

9. Proenza Schouler: Poiret exoticism for today

10. Yves Saint Laurent: Volume, volume, volume!


Most Improved


Christopher Kane, Rodarte, Chloé; style.com

Christopher Kane: His first two collections were appealing and impressive in construction but a little too heavily influenced by 80s body-con masters Azzedine Alaïa and Hervé Léger. For his last collection, Kane and his sister Tammy drew from their childhood and developed a wonderfully personal and intriguing collection of snakeskin and denim juxtaposed with chiffon and suspended ruffles.

Rodarte: I have previously found the Mulleavy sisters creations too precious and fragile-looking. (They seemed so precariously held together to the point that they looked unfinished.)Their latest collection, however, looked not only more polished, but tougher. And they did this without compromising their more arty leanings.

Chloé: Paulo Melim Andersson's debut collection for Chloé was a disappointment -- Andersson had worked at Marni before and the synthetic, tough-girl looks he put on the runway for Chloé showed a consderable Marni influence, and seemed incongruous with Chloé's care-free, hippie-chic aesthetic. His spring collection was much lighter, and he made one of the most compelling and appealing arguments for transparency with his chiffons and flyaway dresses with arty abstract prints.

Most Overrated

Proenza Schouler: I know! What? I put them on my top 10 for fall! It's not that I think the design duo Proenza Schouler makes bad clothes. On the contrary, I think they are appealing, interesting, and well-made (the dresses they did in gold leaf for spring were quite breathtaking). I do, however, think that the praise lavished on them is excessive, particularly since their last few collections haven't been that original. Last spring, their collection owed an enormous debt to Alaïaa and Léger; their fall collection was an homage to early 20th century couturier Paul Poiret and some of the shorter cocktail dresses looked a bit like Hussein Chalayan dresses from a few seasons ago; their last collection, as I noted before, was derivative of Balenciaga's collection the previous season. They have the craftsmanship and the talent (and I really liked their collection for Target), and, in the fall collection, they used their influences as a guide or jumping off point. They are, however, way too talented to be influenced by collections that came out less than a year ago.