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James Coviello
 JAMES
COVIELLO isn’t trying to save fashion
from itself with his designs; he’s simply trying to have fun and
sell some clothes at the same time. With this collection, he did
that and a whole lot more. He made a great first impression when
Anna Sui was styling a photo shoot a decade ago and asked him to
she asked to make a special hat for her. Later, she enlisted him
to do the hats for her first runway show, and, in 2001, he launched
his own collection while continuing to work with Ms Sui on her collections.
Mr Coviello is a master at creating beautiful
crocheted sweaters, lace shirts, and delicate chiffon skirts, all
of which are designed to evoke the elegance of the 1920s, 1930s
and 1940s. Add to this his quirky, romantic touches—an elaborate
feather pin here, a flouncing, puffy sleeve there—and you end up
with designs that are full of feminine charm with a modern sensibility.
First and foremost, Mr Coviello has a wonderful
sense of design matched with an equal part sense of fun, and this
was never more apparent than in his fall 2004 collection. He opened
the show with a model wearing a lightweight peacock feather print
chiffon dress accessorized by strapping, urban street boots and
a fur hat with side flaps. Wow! Immediately, he swept aside the
cobwebs from what could have been a tired rendition of a long ago
style and made it fresh, youthful and wonderfully now. This
collection was as light as air and I walked out of the show venue
feeling happy, less stressed than when I went in. I liked most every
look he sent down his runway, particularly the beautifully conceived
dresses and coats. My favourite pieces in the collection were his
pale grey silk fitted jacket (with brown stripes and fur trimmings
in the wrists) and his brown Russian officer long coat with leather
and ribbon belt. I loved that he used fur hats and scarves so inventively
throughout the presentation. His use of southwestern-style belts
was particularly effective in developing his theme. Mr Coviello
is a talent to watch and, therefore, we here at Lucire will
be keeping an eye on his progress. For more information, log onto
his web site, www. jamescoviello.com.
I have had adventures in terror while visiting other web sites but
this was not one of them. Much like his collections, the site is
geared towards injecting a sense of fun into the proceedings while
he manages to sell a few pieces of clothing. It was so much fun,
I didn’t want to leave.
CONTINUED
Add his quirky,
romantic touches and you end up with designs that are full of feminine
charm with a modern sensibility
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