Point of View: Fashion Week shines for last time in Bryant Park

Feb. 25, 2010

Sky-high stilettos walk down the runways of New York Fashion Week, held for the last time in the tents of New York's iconic Bryant Park, where dark colors, geometric shapes and belts were displayed by the world's major fashion lines.

The Diane von Furstenberg collection, filled with bold patterns, is modeled Feb. 14

The Marc by Marc Jacobs combined two important features of fall fashion: black and belts.

Photos: Associated Press The Marc by Marc Jacobs fall 2010 collection is modeled Feb. 16. The collection displayed a lot of color combinded with geometric prints and cuts.

By By Ashleigh Schmitz
Contributor

New York Fashion Week kicked off on Feb. 11. It marked the start of the last New York Fashion to be held at Bryant Park, and now will also be remembered as the day acclaimed British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his London home.

Between the massive screen updating live with Twitter feeds and the Blackberry addicted fashion scenesters attached to their phones at fashion week, it did not take long for news of McQueen's death to create a pall and change the mood in the tents.

However, the shows must go on, and they did. Fashion week continued with tributes from various designers such as Betsey Johnson, who sent her final model down the runway with a sign that read "Long Live McQueen."

While designers had no way of knowing such a tragedy would befall fashion week, many seemed to pay respects with predominantly black collections. It is not uncommon for the fall season to preview darker colors; the most recent fall seasons have done so using dark hues and jewel tones rather than black and shades of gray. Designers like Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg and Alexander Wang sent out lines full of the color of the night.

When designers weren't showing blacks, prints and color blocking rose to the occasion. Cynthia Rowley, Diane von Furstenberg, Rodarte and BCBG Max Azria are just a few of the designers to give a reprieve from the black. At BCBG Max Azria, the color blocking and drapery gave way to long and lean silhouettes that often included trousers and a belt to complete the looks.

Rowley and von Furstenberg used their prints to add pops of color to the black that dominated the catwalk. The prints in Rowley's line were smaller and more delicate, while von Furstenberg's prints were a tad larger and splashier, mimicking the water that rippled over the runway as models traipsed down it. Rodarte, however, featured no black at all. This allowed the floral prints to complement the demure creams that brought new life to the season that rarely sees such heavenly tones.

BCBG Max Azria was not alone in showing waist-highlighting belts. Whether thick or thin, chunky or light, belts were abundant for Jill Stuart, Christian Siriano and Marc by Marc Jacobs, only to name a few.

Siriano used smaller and medium-weight belts to politely cinch the waist of professionally dressed models. Jill Stuart introduced thick and chunky belts that went over heavy knits. These were shown under jackets and blazers, even paired with velvet, draped dresses proving that belts are back and styling them can be as out of the box as ever.

At Marc by Marc Jacobs, belts helped amp up the thift-shop-meets-Army Navy-store feel. The belts all hit at the natural waist no matter the texture or weight of the garment they were giving shape to. The rule book for wearing belts has officially been thrown out the window. Belts no longer need to be the same size and weight as the garment they are paired with. Designers showed that slightly askew is the new direction.

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