Daily Front Row

2010 September 12

Runway Reviews: Suno, Gary Graham, Patrik Ervell

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Suno Spring 2011
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(NEW YORK) SUNO
“We wanted to take the collection to a place that was less of this world, of different parts of this world, and make it of another place,” explained Suno’s Erin Beatty of her Spring 2011 effort with partner Max Osterweis. Translation? Where Suno’s wildly successful Fall 2010 collection had a definite tribal feel (most of the brand’s prints came from Kenyan kangas), this collection was less specific—and stronger for it. Suno for spring is a mish-mash of colors and prints and textiles: country-ish macramé knits live next to beaded frocks, a ‘50s-style circle skirt is near a modern wrap dress, and a sequined pinafore dress comes layered over a schoolgirl plaid blouse. Hard to picture? Possibly, but quirky girls will eat it up—as will even their more sophisticated counterparts, who’ll find plenty to love when they disassemble the mix-and-match styling. It’s hard to maintain the kind of buzz Suno has sustained over the last six months—Michelle Obama, Rachel Bilson, and Michelle Williams have all sported the brand recently—but Osterweis and Beatty’s Spring collection will keep them exactly where they want to be.

GARY GRAHAM
“An abandoned chair found in the woods, a broken-down house and a forgotten waterslide,” are all elements that appear (however abstractly) in Gary Graham’s Spring 2011 collection. Inspired by a fictitious artist based on photographs taken in rural Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Graham created a wardrobe that encompassed her whole world, whether it’s embroidery meant to resemble pine leaves in the forest or a beaded jacket of an old Ziegfield Folly costume. The care Graham takes constructing the background story for his collection is indicative of the care he takes with his actual garments; they’re simultaneously romantic and modern, of a forgotten age but beautifully crafted.

PATRIK ERVELL
Patrik Ervell created perhaps one of most unusual runways ever for his spring effort. His models walked on two foot high stacks of Financial Times while showing off crisp trenches, thinning suits, and perfectly tailored blue and camel khakis. There was something perfectly boyish and optimistic about the young designers men's effort thanks to his optimistic pink shirts, flowing tees, and urban safari numbers.