On The Move - NY Fashion Week S/S 2012

Commentary on the Spring/Summer 2012 collections from New York Fashion Week

The models in Alexander Wang's Spring Summer 2012 show walk onto the runway with damp hair. They do not have the time or have any concern to fix it.


They're on the move.

This simple idea is what permeates most of the collections during New York Fashion Week.  There are thematic elements of velocity and movement. Starting with the prints: Alex Wang's motorcross references and symbolic gestures of arrows and directions recalling signs found in a highway.

To prints in Vera Wang that look like they are a blur and seem to invite you to look closer. Like seing a landscape from the window of a fast-moving vehicle.

In Joseph Altuzarra's show there are backpack strap details in dresses. We are on the move and we have a lot of baggage.

To contrast all this haste and speed, there are more tranquil references to movement as seen in the 3.1 Phillip Lim show. His fabrics are light and the edges flutter jovially even in the most slight of winds. There are dresses that looked like a handful of kite tails draped themselves over the body.

Images: AlexWang1, AlexWang2, PhillipLim1, PhillipLim2, VeraWang1+2, Altuzarra