She is one of the most consistent, intelligent, mindful, thoughtful designers around. This season, since we are immersed in a “thoughtful moment like no other” (as she put it), she wanted to do something more intimate and personal. So instead of showing in her West 29th Street store (as she has for several seasons), she opted for the chic West Village apartment of Andrea Woodner, an American artist, architect, and philanthropist who founded the New York City based Design Trust for Public Space. And yes, Ms. Woodner, who was dressed in Yeohlee, is a loyal customer.
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| Zero Waste Coat Photo: Vogue.com |
When I asked Ms. Woodner what she did with the furniture in her living room to transform it into a runway, she smiled and said they moved all the furniture into the second bedroom and boasted that it took less than an hour. She also admitted her furnishings are rather minimal. I had to laugh because my husband and I have so much heavy furniture in our living room we would never be able to turn on a dime in such quick time
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| Grey stripe stretch poly raincoat Photo: Marilyn Kirschner |
On hand were FIT’s Dr. Valerie Steele, Patricia Mears, WWD’s Bobbi Queen, Fashion Group International’s Margaret Hayes and Marylou Luther among others. It felt intimate and civilized. In any event, Yeohlee’s run of show posed the question, “where are we going, what do we need, how do we get there? Her answer:
“To be perhaps cloaked in clothing that can empower and be worn with confidence and comfort to ease the way.”
This includes user friendly, multi-purpose pieces-coats as dresses, dresses as tops, jackets as shirts, with zero waste (reflecting the potential of fabric). One coat, in a grey, navy and umber cotton, wool and mohair plaid jacquard used the full width of the fabric and, in the end, consumed only 60 inches of the length. How smart is that?
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| Yeohlee & models Photo: Vogue.com |
Other standouts were the camel hair kazmir coat shown with a cappuccino nylon quilted vest, navy black Gibson top and navy white wool ticking yoke trousers, the camel hair cocoon coat shown with a black microfiber gabardine cholo pant, and the blue umber and grey stripe stretch poly raincoat with scarf and sweeping back (weightless I might add). At the end, when I mentioned to Yeohlee that there was no evening wear, she smiled and said: “And no day wear. It’s every-wear!”
That was the best quote of the day.
– Marilyn Kirschner
