Daily Front Row

2010 February 18

Runway Reviews: Brian Reyes, Marchesa

Marchesa
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(NEW YORK) Brian Reyes
Reyes is a rare breed among his fellow New York designers. His clothes are quiet—neither aggresively sexy, nor too referential of the Upper East Side, and happily, never the least bit garish. The big news to come out of his Fall collection, shown yesterday at Bryant Park, was the addition of furs to his repetroire. A sheared, belted mink in shades of burnt marigold  was nothing short of delicious; same goes for a toss-on navy fox coat and a wool swing style with a fur hod. Reyes' starting point was trees, especially those seen at London's Kew Gardens and the U.S. National Arboretum in D.C. He used a silvery bark print on a long, lean silhouette, mostly, with curvily-seamed separates in the treated silks he tends to favor. And there were also a few new textures. The best was boucle, seen in a pencil skirt and blanket jacket. Those teeny-tiny silk shorts and cropped tops work for the runway, but not so much for cocktail hour. While Reyes offered new ideas to ponder, the socially-minded ladies in his front row will require a few more cocktail and evening options to stay outfitted all season long. In fact, the collection's strongest look was the last one, a flawlessly-cut, uber-lean black silk gown that one lucky girl will use to dominate, say, the Frick. Reyes' gowns get stronger by the season, and clearly, his clients will put them to good use.

Marchesa
Georgina Chapman cited "the travels of Lola Montez" as inspiration for the brand's latest effort, but it's clear the high-concept themes are becoming increasingly unnnecessary in Marchesa-land with each passing season. That's because Champan and Keren Craig still continiously manage to pr oduce an awe-aspiring buffet of gowns, although the Chelsea Art Museum can barely accomodate their teeming fanbase. Come May 7—that's Oscar night, loves—Hollywood's top stylists will have plenty of reasons to bicker. Who will get the stunning crimson duchess gown? What about the chiffon creation with feathers? Or maybe the photogenic silver bugle column? J.Lo can't have everything...