The Japan Times - New York Fashion Week: on holiday with Michael Kors, shivers from Altuzarra

- On vacation with Kors -

American designer Michael Kors took the audience on vacation at his spring-summer show, with Brooklyn's Domino Park, along the East River, transformed into a seaside promenade under the eyes of actresses Blake Lively and Halle Berry.

"I can't take you all to Capri, so I can take you to Brooklyn," the 64-year-old Kors said smiling, referring to the Italian island.

Models showcased light outfits embroidered with lace, a mini-skirt and blouse set, short dresses and pants paired with small tops in the brand's first show since the announcement that its holding company Capri would be purchased by Coach parent company Tapestry.

A loose sweater in cashmere and cotton drops to just below the beltline, leaving the wearer's legs completely uncovered -- a nod to the recent "no pants" trend, maybe, or perhaps something more practical: "You can wear it in the heat. You can wear it when it's cool... We all know that the world has gotten too warm," Kors said.

"We are increasingly dealing with, 'How do we get dressed?' Particularly when it's too warm outside, and in (the) office, it's too cold and we're freezing."

Everything was in keeping with the vacation vibe, with flat sandals, and an artisanal, hand-woven wicker basket bag in a nod to the recently deceased singer and style icon Jane Birken.

"A British woman living in France, who had this very casual, laid-back attitude," said Kors.

"I actually think it was very American."

- Shivers at Altuzarra -

The atmosphere took a darker turn at the Altuzarra show, held in the Manhattan Central Library under a high dome with opaque windows.

French-American designer Joseph Altuzarra drew on Roman Polanski's timeless horror classic "Rosemary's Baby" for inspiration, creating a dark setting accompanied by ominous music.

The collection gives pride of place to slip dresses worn under long jackets, and matching sets were transformed with crinkled satin and undone seams.

Short tulle overlay dresses were covered with a transparent organza veil, reminiscent of a doll.

With this collection, Altuzarra wrote in the show notes, he wanted to exude "a haunting, enigmatic allure, while anchored in everyday style and pragmatism."

- Tory Burch asserts herself -

"In a world of chaos, I wanted a little bit of calm. But I didn't want to be minimalist," Tory Burch said after her show, held in a grandiose setting under the roof and between the undulating granite facades of a new atrium at the American Museum of Natural History.

She stepped up the experimentation: ultra-short skirts worn under a parka or a collarless blazer in futuristic shiny purple, with tinted glasses.

Among the most original pieces of the collection, there is a cape and dress set in knitted viscose which ends in rounded reliefs.

The fabrics are light, but they create structure. Like her other dresses, they are cut diagonally above the knees and leave one shoulder uncovered.

The American designer said she wanted to take items like corsets "that were restrictive to women in the past and reclaim them and make them part of beautiful femininity".

K.Hashimoto--JT