nyfw: cushnie et ochs
(images via ny mag)
lining their s/s 2012 runway with what at first appeared to be a white picket fence (and what proved, upon inspection, to actually be a neon sculpture resembling said fence, but exuding a faint almost radioactive glow), designers carly cusnie and michelle ochs, for their cushnie et ochs label, let go that dark minimalism they so revere, and the native american traveling sexpot of last season in favour of something a little more humorous.
if they didn’t quite let their vixen go, at least they took her to a new level for spring, the wsj calling the show “Sexed-up architectural. Frank Gehry meets Barbarella,” while style opined it was a “riff on modern housewives,” drawing on ideas of “Barbie dolls. Betty Draper. Pink.” to put it into the language those of us not up on our current tv references might understand, the show felt like another romp through that fashion-beloved territory of ‘futurist as seen through the eye of the past,’ with saucy-sweet fifties-sixties silhouettes and colours occasionally exuding a flash of pure science fiction charm.
working with a surprisingly-light-for-the-duo palette of nyfw it-colour pink, lemony yellow, beige, black, and bright white, style was spot-on in their description of the range: “Geometric cutouts, several of which drew all eyes to the décolletage, transformed little white dresses into sexy space-age wear, something a fembot might don for some provocative dusting.” materials, meanwhile, consisted of silks, canvas, leather (for those turns on the s&m side), and cotton.
nbc correctly points out that ” there were a number of pieces that could conceivably become staples in a work-week wardrobe rotation,” and indeed, this was mostly the case, with a lot of sleek or fit-and-flare dresses that, although often sleeveless, required a little more than a sleek blazer to transform them into the picture of (almost) demure refinement. of course, as wwd noted, “Only the clunky metal peplum belts and some rather brazen bra looks shifted the otherwise fine balance between very sexy and very chic.” a very good start to the week, indeed.
(watch the catwalk finale video here)
