What with the velvet sofas, sunshine streaming in through the windows, and live folksy music by A Fine Frenzy, yesterday s Banana Republic show at the Bowery Hotel was quite intimate. According to creative director Simon Kneen, that was intentional: "The collection has so much texture. We wanted everyone to see it up closer than usual—more 3-D than 2-D."
The designer captured quite a few Fall trends. There were tissue-thin cotton turtlenecks (like the ones we saw a month back at Celine) layered under tunic blouses; classic plaid and herringbone patterns in charcoal shades, which looked best on a slim pair of jodhpur-y pants; and "Dunaway-esque" cloches and brogue heels to finish the looks. As for the texture Kneen was eager to highlight, it came across most clearly in a nubby heritage sweater worn with a winter white brocade pencil skirt. A camel, double-face wool topcoat, which the creative director described as a deconstructed take on the trench, was a standout. And while it could ve been the Alana Zimmer factor, we wanted to nab the model s simple, dove gray leather bomber with shearling collar and slouchy Lurex beanie.
On the boys side, it was about toughened-up tailoring. A double-breasted suit jacket or leather peacoat worked well with comfortable yet polished wool drawstring trousers. To top it all off: "bad boy" fedoras. Like a lot of other pieces in this show, we ve seen them elsewhere before, but they still have street-style cred.
