Jared Leto was there, so was Ke$ha. And the celebs were just part of the story. Erin Wasson can draw a crowd of editors and retailers that would make full-time designers cringe with envy. The attraction? The moonlighting model s fearless sense of personal style, first and foremost, although the show s novel setting—the pillow- and rug-strewn sixth floor of ABC Carpet Home—and a live performance by the Brooklyn band Yeasayer also served to lure in a high-profile audience. The danger of this approach is that it can set the bar too high for a label that s only in its fourth season, and it s probably not surprising if this time around the payoff didn t live up to the setup.
There were shades of the seventies in a trio of glam-rock ivory fur jackets. Other looks—like the long tank dresses layered over turtlenecks, and slouchy tees paired with drop-crotch thermal leggings—gave you a bit of the nineties grunge vibe that s quickly become an early New York thing. Wasson s got some sense for the way the fashion winds are blowing, but the 22-look lineup was a little too long on T-shirts and corduroy cutoffs, and an ill-fitting jumpsuit should have been edited out. A fully fledged show comes with its own expectations, and Wasson and her team will have to figure out the best way to fill the bigger stage next time.
