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Gustavo Arango
LAST SEASON, Gustavo Arango’s
collection was a battle of wills between his tribute to the "joie
de vie-ness" of his native Puerto Rico and his desires to follow
the modernistic, urban femininity of his adopted home, New York
City—and they both lost. This season, Mr Arango has chosen to highlight
the latter to the exclusion of all others, and this time, it was
a minor triumph. From day to evening, he employed just the right
touches needed to design a most cohesive collection of nearly flawless
pieces. His skirts (especially his rose suede slim, black goat slim,
and moss beaded pencil skirts) were faultless designs in their own
rights. While he didn’t show that many coats, I thought the detailing
in his eggplant silk twill coat was quite exquisite. With the exception
of a few pieces, his tops in chiffon and tulle were the very essence
of affordable luxury. I liked most of his evening designs, especially
his cocoa silk–satin gown (with plunging back detailing), his black
double faced strapless silk-satin gown and the charcoal silk-chiffon
fishtail hem gown worn by Omahyra in the finalé. He adequately
covered all the bases in this collection, while leaving room for
improvements further down the road. The jewellery, appropriately
used in accessorizing the more dressier designs, were provided by
Faraone Mennella (www.faraonemennella.com);
the hair styled by Pasquale Ferrante for Redken and understated
make-up by Mariel Barrera and the make up team from MAC
all added to the general improvements of the overall presentation,
and they should all be commended for their fine work.
Cynthia Steffe
Cynthia Steffe’s modern interpretation of the English landed
gentry look—mixed with her long time love of soft femininity—was
a big hit last February at the Bryant Park tents. She fleshed out
the look by pairing long flowing skirts with narrow, fitted tops
(some with corset boning), shrunken jackets that accentuate the
waist, slimming riding pants with fitted shrunken coats and tops,
and crisp white schoolboy shirts that are equally modern and steeped
in the Victorian–English heritage. She expertly utilized rich textured
tweeds, flocked flannels, gorgeous cashmere and a wide variety of
crushed, brocade, and embroidered velvets in sumptuous shades of
caramel, copper, gold, chocolate and Bordeaux—all colours symbolic
of the season.
For day, I loved her caramel bow-pocket cardigan
over a pinstripe boy shirt and sand corduroy tiered skirt. It was
just so preppy and appropriate. There was an echo of the 1960s in
her three-quarter length corduroy coat and the accompanying shrunken
cardigan top with matching camel corduroy riding pants. Her bridle
stitched riding skirt has the built-in ease of country living with
a twist of the city thrown in for good measure. She hit the mark
with her houndstooth fit-and-flare skirts, often paired with waist-defining
corset bustiers. She was at her best with her quilted jackets and
coats, especially her quilted hounds tooth weekender and her urbane
ivory quilted barn jackets.
While there weren’t a great many traditional evening
pieces, what she showed was absolutely wonderful. She seemed to
be evoking that Stevie Nicks–Gypsy feeling with her evening pieces,
especially apparent in her strapless gold velvet slip dress, and
her black velvet–venise cutaway dress with lace side insets. She
continued the theme to the end with her gold velvet belle époque
bustier ribbed dress, combining the English theme and modern low-stress
dressing with great aplomb.
Ms Steffe took a well-deserved bow at the end
with her infant daughter, and once again, you have to marvel at
the creative process and how it manifests itself in people. She
could have taken the theme and ran it into the ground. Instead,
she used a light hand in expressing herself, making it all a pleasure
to view for everyone.
CONTINUED
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ABOVE: Gustavo
Arango. BELOW: Cynthia Steffe.
    
| Cynthia Steffe’s modern
interpretation of the English landed gentry look—mixed with
her long time love of soft femininity—was a big hit last February
at the Bryant Park tents |
 
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