What to do when seemingly every other designer in the city turns to the easy luxury that bears your own name stamp? Do it again and do it better. Michael Kors did just that this morning, showing the kids how it’s done. He might as well have done a mike drop at the end of his runway walk. It was a crisp sunny New York morning, the temperatures, although still painfully low, were not as brutal and Beck was on the soundtrack (personal wish: to see Michael debate Kanye on whether Beck deserved that Grammy over Beyonce. Let’s make that happen, people!). Life is good chez Kors.
Have you been seeing a lot of big fur coats this season? Nothing as good as the ombré striped fox robe coat Natasha Poly wore to open the show. The grey mohair tank dress she had underneath it was just as desirable, by the way. The silhouette was long, lean and relaxed – long ribbed cashmere and Aran knit tunics over long trumpet skirts, roomy tweed jackets over wide charcoal trousers and the type of luxe knit dresses you could run the world in from your sofa. Just add a crisp pointed white shirt collar underneath and a sheared mink coat stamped with a, yes, subtle floral intarsia over your shoulders. Kors called it ‘opulent restraint’. The palette was classic Kors: oats and barley, charcoals and fawns. Feathers decorated tweed dresses and a navy knit pullover and cashmere skirt, and paisley motifs appeared on bias cut dresses. What’s that? You’d like to run the world in your PJs instead? How about the paisley crystal-embroidered black georgette pair that Julia Nobis glided past in, a black fox stole belted in for extra comfort? Brogues turned into mule flats and bags had a vintage feel about them. In a season of coats, I’m still thinking about one in navy wool that Kors showed, its cuffs embroidered in gold, the buttons ‘captain’ gold. For evening nothing but sheer black lace, brilliant gold and enough caviar beads to bankrupt Russia. Watch and learn, kiddos.
