NY Fashion Week Notes: Yeohlee & Herrera

Master Class

Yeohlee Spring 2012 Collection Photos: Ernest Schmatolla

Yeohlee’s spring 2012 collections, set in an urban garden setting, was the utmost in studied simplicity. Set against a backdrop of trees, slate and soft afternoon light, the Zen- like collection carefully balanced geometry and nature. Her artful, structured shapes and fabrics, shown in a cool palette of mostly whites, neutrals and textured metallics, offered a thoughtful alternative to this season’s more colorful scenario.

Yeohlee Spring 2012 Collection

These are clothing for a discerning minimalist customer. The woman who wears Yeohlee knows that she will be striking from any angle. Case in point, the finale’s stunner, a beautifully constructed gold bateau neck top and crescent shaped skirt, a masterful combination of structure and beauty. With fit and form so present in the fashion vernacular, much of it is retro in derivation. Yeohlee’s precise shapes are all in the present and future tense and exemplify what modern dressing is about. A cream mini cross hatch textured dress, with rolled neck, rounded shoulder and crescent shaped body was an exercise in both volume and beautiful simplicity.

Yeohlee Spring 2012 Collection

Despite the architectural attributes to the collection, there was an inherent ease to the more sportswear oriented aspects of the collection. A sand colored papery finished flyaway jacket with a softly shaded etched patterned knee length short provided a modern take on this season’s omnipresent barely there short, while a cream jersey cowl neck top and iridescent gold crescent shaped short offered an elegant, modern version that made many others look obsolete. Yeohlee’s take on the jumpsuit – a beautiful Shibori patterned waterfall grey and black water color print version with three quarter sleeves.

Yeohlee Spring 2012 Collection

With an almost cult-like following of fashionable devotees, this beautifully rendered and crafted collection, influenced by Jones Wood, will insure Yeohlee’s place among the master craftsmen not just of the present but also the future.

-Tricia Kenney

Carolina’s Deco Deluxe

Carolina Herrera Spring 2012 Collection Photos: firstView.com

Like everyone else this season, Carolina Herrera was bitten by the print bug (you might be in trouble for spring 2012 if you’re allergic to prints because they are all around; but of course, there are always alternatives, and solids have thankfully not completely disappeared. Hers, showed up in color combinations of grass green (a favorite shade of hers) and canary yellow; red, black, greige; cornflower, red, and sepia; off white, taupe and, sepia; and ran the gamut from relatively delicate florals and sparrow prints to more classic dots and stripes. There were printed chiffon blouses and printed crepe de chine wrap skirts; printed crepe de chine blouses that could stand on their own, or work as well beneath a sepia dolman sleeved canvas coat dress; printed crepe de chine shirt dresses that hit just below the knee, and printed floor length chiffon gowns.

Carolina Herrera Spring 2012 Collection

As always, CH mixes day and evening on the runway, so it’s not unusual for a few daytime pieces to appear, followed by a floor length gown. Her daytime is characteristically dressed up anyway – let’s face it, this is not a runway where you will likely see sweats and workout clothes, or second skin motorcross pants and scuba jackets for that matter, so the sequence is not very relevant. Among the ideas CH proposes for day: cropped woven canvas jackets shown over printed skirts and blouses or paired with a striped silk jacquard blouse; graphic bi-colored cotton dresses; canvas coats and coat dresses (a chic update on a traditional trench); graphic knits and pleated pants; and the use of printed silk scarf tied around the neck as a large bow (a recurring theme).

Carolina Herrera Spring 2012 Collection

But the most important influence on the collection, day and night, and the one that reaped the most strikingly modern results, was the Bauhaus movement, which showed up in a variety of geometric art deco inspired pieces, including: an off white silk blouse with geometric appliques paired with a cropped pleated black pant. A graphic off white, black, and sepia cotton sleeveless dress with red patent hinge belt; a nude and black geometric lace long sleeved dress with linear bead embroidery; a red silk seersucker cloque gown with black and white geometric embroidery.

Carolina Herrera Spring 2012 Collection

The grass green silk geometric jacquard gown with multiple fold detail in back that ended the show- which would be a perfect choice for a summer soiree in the Hamptons or Palm Beach, or for a black tie gala at the lush Conservatory Gardens.

-Marilyn Kirschner

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Marilyn Kirschner

I am a long time fashion editor with 40+ years of experience. As senior market of Harper's Bazaar for 21 years I met and worked with every major fashion designer in the world and covered all of the collections in Paris, London, Milan and New York. I was responsible for overall content, finding and pulling in the best clothes out there, and for formulating ideas and stories.