Valvo and von Furstenberg: inspired glamour in Gotham

NEW YORK CITY - Black is dark and intimidating, mysterious, serious, and elegant.

And when all is said and done, it is the color of New York City.  Carmen Marc Valvo’s spring 2010 womenswear collection, presented yesterday evening at NASDAQ on the fourth day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, was a glamorous tribute to the most popular fashion color and the most famous city in America.

Carmen Marc Valvo

Staging the show at NASDAQ in the nation’s financial and fashion capitol was a creative coup. Actress Vanessa L. Williams, along with her mother and many other guests, stood along an informal runway as models walked the second-floor indoor space in cycles. Some viewed the collection on nearby flat-screen monitors while others gazed through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the heart of Times Square as the ensembles were broadcast on several jumbo LED screens to the bustling masses below.

But even more brilliant than the multimedia planning and execution were the clothes. They are the reason Mr.  Valvo is among the top-selling brands in the category of evening, cocktail and red-carpet dressing. While in recent years he has ventured successfully into eyewear, swimwear, lingerie and home décor, his special-occasion looks are what have won the loyalty of long-times devotees such as Ms. Williams and continue to attract the attention of ordinary and famous women of style around the world.

Diane von Furstenberg

There was plenty to admire in this newest collection, from black bikinis, a black lamé trench coat and glitzy racerback tank tops to a khaki suede safari jacket, a khaki metal embroidered cocktail skirt, and a metallic leather sequin embroidered anorak.

And those frocks.  A sparkling black “multimedia” crystal beaded cocktail dress, a dazzling glass window beaded cocktail style, a black suede safari dress with a crystal beaded hem, and a series of Wilhemina Slater-worthy embroidered, ruffled and ruched  gowns in royal blue, pewter, silver and gold lamé.

Ensembles were accessorized with earrings, bangles and other jewelry pieces in rose gold, red gold, yellow gold and chocolate gold. They were crafted by a variety of designers –  Charles Garnier, Barbara D;Oro, EuroCatene, and Mattioli, to name a few — supplied by the World Gold Council, a co-presenter of the show along with NASDAQ.

The 26-look preview was effortlessly cohesive, evoking a sense of the impressive architecture and towering buildings that characterize the city. That it was presented as the sun set and darkness descended only added to its allure.

There may be no one on the planet more intriguing and magnetic than the type of woman Diane von Furstenberg describes as “feminine and powerful,” “spirited and strong,” one who “commands with her presence, but is as fleeting as a mirage.”

This is the woman Ms. Von Furstenberg aims to dress, and her inspiration for spring 2010  came from a desert oasis, marbled temples of the Orient, and sunset on the Nile. Her point was, as it has been, that women can be comfortably glamorous from day to evening and from casual to dressy settings.

Of course, the designer presented her most popular silhouette, the wrap dress, in fresh colors and prints. But she’s never been a one-noter, this time adding pretty alternatives such as a black zebra appliquéd rope dress, an eyelet chiffon dress in sunset colors, black drape dresses in chiffon and slick jersey, macramé dresses in yellow and a gorgeous grass green, and a chic beaded harm shift with leather paillettes cut and colored to resemble gold coins.

Layering is a basic concept of smart dressing, and Ms. Von Furstenberg shows how to do it without being stuffy or frumpy. There was the palace tiger Thai silk coat over a golden silk charmeuse bomber and leopard chiffon jodhpurs; the red-tan palm tree beaded dress under a blazer of the same color; and the combination of a patchwork brocade jacket, sunset madras cotton shirt and sequin jersey pants that may not work for most women but was fetching, nonetheless.

Accessories have upstaged the apparel at some shows this week, but here was a case where jewelry complemented as it should. The designer combined pieces from her own fine jewelry line, DVF by H. Stern, with items from the Vital Voices Collection of African Women Artisans.

More spring looks from fashion week runways

Toni Maticevski

Herve Leger