Fashion Week at #606 Claire Fuchu

I just watched the final episode of Project Runway and I feel so inspired. I really liked Laura Bennet’s line, and a few pieces from Uli inspired me as well. Both of the women, Jeffrey and Michael had very distinct points of view. People tend to think of Jeffrey as the most innovative and in many respects he is, but every designer exhibited some innovative characteristics. The prints that Uli tends to use have an inventive spirit. I think Michael did very well infusing his fresh, urban aesthetic with the requirements of the challenges and his clothes always look cool; but the line he showed looks like merchandise that is already on the market, there is nothing inherently new.

When I first saw Laura’s line aired in the episode I thought ‘what great clothes, it’s too bad her aesthetic is for older women, I would love to wear her clothes designed for a twenty year old.’ But when I looked through the photos on Bravo’s website, I realized that she actually did design for younger people, and I think she is arguably one of the most innovative designers from the 3^rd season. I really respect that she had a theme in mind for her show. Although I would love to see her take on casual/sportswear, she does great things for dressy. Within the sphere of evening and cocktail dresses she mixed fun and classy and produced the kinds of clothes that you buy first and then find a place to wear them. While some of her pieces were very much for older women, a number of outfits were in fact, very young. As the judges mentioned, her clothes are ones that you buy and keep for life. A number of things she presented could be aged forwards or backwards with different accessories. Jewelry, bag, shoes, scarves; a number of things can transform an outfit. You can visit http://www.bravotv.com/Fashion_Forward/photos/laura/index.shtml?slideshow=pr3_laura&pic=1#picAnchor to see Laura’s show.

I loved a number of her outfits, but #9 (in the slideshow) was my absolute favorite. It is certainly a young outfit. The use of shorts for the cocktail hour is very now, and the gold cropped jacket with a gold chiffon bow and sash is beautiful. It is the classic, put-together look that Laura does so well, but in a very fresh way.

My second favorite was #3. This is a fabulous little black dress. A halter dress with an empire waist updates a classic look. The upright feathers at the empire waist are fun and flirty and the fringe at the hem adds more playfulness to the look.

#13 is a gorgeous piece that can be transitioned for many years. The black lace is timeless, but the deep-V is daring. The overall silhouette is exquisite and flattering without emphasizing one particular element so much that the piece gets stuck in a particular trend or decade. This is certainly a piece which is always beautiful, but whose age and mood can be influenced with accessories.

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The winner of Project Runway, Jeffrey Sebelia, said in his exit interview that he would like to use his prize money to start a secondary line that would be available to a mass market. While I am generally not a fan of Jeffrey, I applaud his idea. Project Runway is great at unearthing design talent, but inspired designer clothes can be very difficult for regular people to come by. There are an incredible number of talented and inspired designers out there and I would certainly like to see more of them taking steps to mass produce, and to see more large retailers courting independent designers. Jeffrey’s idea is a good first step, and I hope more people in the industry agree and follow suit.