Girls on bikes. Of Phillip Lim s satchelful of references for Fall, that was the most interesting. After all, there s something terribly cool about a look that s remarkably stylish, yet not so precious that it ll be compromised by all that pedal-pushing. "It s about these chic women who ride bikes to work, to brunch, to a cocktail party," Lim said backstage before the show. "But how do you make everything functional without sacrificing form?"
His answer was to splice functional-looking athletic and utilitarian elements into a chic fall urbanite wardrobe of cropped pants and smart coats. A navy silk dress took its cues from the classic nylon anorak, and silk jumpsuits had raglan sleeves—leather for day, covered with bobbling bronze beads for evening. And that s OK. But as such, this hybrid look isn t a million miles away from the mixed-up approach other designers have taken in recent seasons. Nevertheless, it yielded some nice pieces—mostly outerwear—like a black bonded-silk utility coat with big patch pockets, a letterman s jacket in curly lamb and leather, and sturdy ribbed cardigans sliced up the side. A white silk dress, modeled after a baseball jersey, with beaded sleeves was unexpectedly simple and lovely.
However, the show wasn t without its moments of awkwardness, particularly in stiff carrot-shaped pants and squared-off culottes, all cut with an extra fold of material pleated onto the front. They were inspired by Lim s visual research of tribes and gangs. (That swirling floral print, by the way, was a nod to Japanese yakuza tattoos.) As Lim explained, cholos buy their pants too big and fold them in to have a heavier stance, something, it s fair to say, no shopping woman ever wants. Who ever said the battle of form and function would be easy?
