If every unsmiling girl in a motorcycle jacket is compared to Lisbeth Salander this week, it will be enough to make the biggest Steig Larsson fan turn to violence. But hey, it s still early, right? In a phone call a few days before her show, Kimberly Ovitz revealed that she had been inspired by warriors this season—and who better embodies a modern-day warrior than Larsson s disciplined and vengeful heroine? The hacker would have fit right in among Ovitz s all-black-clad crew of toughies, though she would have stuck with the collection s structured outerwear and drawn the line at the draped dresses.
That divide marked the polarities at play—structure versus fluidity. They both came through in the moto jackets, which evinced a relaxed, lived-in drape despite their heft. Less successful was a knit body-con dress with armorlike embellishment that fell awkwardly between hard and soft. A gauzy chiffon column in white printed with a shock of wolf fur toed the line with much more sophistication. The best looks combined a mix of textures and tones: layered under a chunky oatmeal knit, a fluid olive jersey dress with a black faux fur necklace slung over one shoulder like an artillery belt was arresting and wearable. Sexy and fresh, it more than held its own against the hacker chic.
