If the clothes displayed on New York fashion runways this week were anything to go by, men might show up for work this fall in tight green Peter Pan leggings and women could come to the office in dresses made of nothing but pink and purple feathers.
But fashion experts warn fashion lovers not to take what they see too seriously because it takes an expert eye to find wearable looks, especially for the office, amid the flounces and fluff at design shows.
"I don't think runway shows are really meant for any slightly normal person to watch," said Robert Burke, who runs a luxury consulting company. "They're really made for the industry and made for a very select few people.
"If you're trying to make sense of a runway show, you'll probably be highly disappointed," he added. "It's an insiders' kind of game."
Some designers make it easy. Plenty of workplace clothes can be found in collections by Diane von Furstenberg, Ellen Tracy, Cynthia Steffe, Iisli, Carolina Herrera, Charles Nolan, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and Ralph Lauren.
Richard Tyler, who has clad many an actress at the Academy Awards ceremony, has gone so far into designing for the workplace that he has produced sleek uniforms for Delta Air Lines Inc. flight attendants who will begin wearing the new looks in May.
"It's so different," Tyler said at a recent fitting for attendants in New York. "It's probably the most exciting thing I've ever done, to see normal people feel so excited about clothes."
Delta flight attendant Lenny Lydon declared himself delighted with his Tyler uniform because it has what he needs, from plenty of pockets to built-in stretch.
"Finally, someone is listening to flight attendants," said the 17-year veteran.
But at many fashions shows, designers make it more difficult to find the wearable looks. They instead will use an outrageous or over-the-top approach to create buzz but sell toned-down versions for everyday wear, experts say.
Thus menswear designer John Bartlett can send out models in tight green Peter Pan leggings, Heatherette can show a dress made entirely of pink and purple feathers and Marc Jacobs can dress models out in voluminous layers like vagabonds.
"When you do these events, you have to over-exaggerate what you're saying. Make it verge on or even be a little bit ridiculous," said Godfrey Deeny, senior fashion critic at Fashion Wire Daily.
A fashion show is not unlike a speech or a sermon, he said. "First you tell them what you're going to tell them, then you tell them and then you tell them what you told them."
The dramatic touches at New York's semi-annual fashion week, which ends on Friday, are aimed at magazine editors who will produce a layout of next season's looks or retail buyers making selections for fall, said Burke, formerly senior fashion director for Bergdorf Goodman.
"When I'm in a show, I'm dissecting it," said Burke. "Even though the hair may be crazy and the shoes are weird, if you see one piece, whether it's a blouse or a top or a skirt that makes sense, that's what you're looking for."
A few trends that may turn up in coming months, if this week's shows are any guide, are pouf skirts, gloves for women and cummerbunds for men's casual wear.
And what seems wild or weird on the runway may not look that way months from now, said Kurt Barnard, of Barnard's Retail Forecasting, a retail and consumer goods advisory group.
"Very off-the-wall things sometimes hit it off in a very extraordinary way, and they may become very popular," he said. "You may think it is completely off-the-wall or it's idiotic, and you'd be very surprised when at end of season it turned out to be the hottest look."
Posted by Constance Wherrity on February 10, 2006 1:36 AM
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