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The fall ready-to-wear collections continued their neat sweep as Stella McCartney sent out linear coats with only a small notch in the front for a detail & crewnecks & slacks so plain & simple, you had to remind yourself you weren’t looking at Ann Taylor.That’s how long it took for Phoebe Philo’s first Céline show, last October, to have an influence. Ms. Philo isn’t the only designer who likes simplified clothes. Indeed, Ms. McCartney’s spring clothes had the same attitude. But Ms. Philo’s ability to give Céline a look makes her the equivalent of a yardstick. Suddenly, it seems, everybody is using her strict measure as the rule.
Ms. McCartney’s collection was super neat, with V-neck tunics & skinny wool pants, sleeveless wool coats, mini-shifts & graphic uses of color amid the neutrals, like a cropped sleeveless jacket in burnt-orange wool over a salmon turtleneck.
Among the standout looks were shifts that mixed leather & lace & black velvet parkas. Jolts of Lido red also saved everything from looking serious. Skirts & high-waist pants peeled opened in the front with the release of a zipper, generating a contrasting fold. It was an interesting effect that Mr. Tisci might have refined or, with further thought, eliminated.
At Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci also toned things down, opening with a plain beige coat buttoned over a prim lace top & slim pants. Yet the striking difference at Givenchy is that while the silhouette might be more strict than historicallyin the past, there is more variety & sexiness in his clothes than in other collections toeing the minimalist line.
