Donna Karan ended New York Fashion week with a love song to New York (the collection was dubbed “Urban Decadence”) and a celebration of her 20 years in business. To that end, she reworked many of her signature jersey pieces and continued on with her love affair with draping, texture, pulled together with a self- conscious dose of sensuality (see photos).
It was all about the body (no surprise there), many of the designs hugged the form like bodysuits and leotards- even the practically shoulder length gloves accompanying most of the pieces fit like second skins. The rather moody, dark palette of neutrals (and black of course) was periodically enlivened with a hit of gold here and there, and she even managed to throw in some plaids and nubby tweeds.
As usual, her leather coats and jackets are worth noting, and one can easily imagine the feathered full-skirted long gown with spaghetti straps or the finale, a gold sequined torso fitting number, making it to the Red Carpet at the upcoming Academy Awards.
The one item that seemed to be the thread throughout, was the shrug – the item of the season – which she showed in dizzying versions including sheared mink, burnout velvet, and some that resembled sheer spiderwebs.
But that said, all in all, the collection seemed to be weighted down, appeared a tad self conscious- if not forced and pretentious- and did not seem very modern or relevant for these times.
