"I ve always loved her and her work," Camilla Stærk said, a few days before show time, of the interior designer Andrée Putman. "She completely embodies the chic French woman." It s no surprise that Putman, who favors black and white for her day-to-day uniform, should strike a chord with Stærk: The designer has never met a shade of black she doesn t like—as this polished 15-piece presentation proved.
The trick to a monochrome look, as both Putman and Stærk surely know, is texture. Stærk created hers this season with an embossed alligator print that she d developed; it added depth to a dolman-sleeve leather jacket and romantic, roomy velvet top that cinched closed at the shoulders. There was white, too. It looked sharp on half of a draped silk dress (guess what color the other half was?) with a low, loose V-neck and cool zigzag running across the front. Another lighter-side hit was an alluring, ghostly gown in gray-violet velvet with a burnout print. Draped and goddess-y, that dress, along with most everything, had a much freer feel than Stærk s past work. Put it all together with her skin-hugging signatures, like a skinny leather pant, and a more fully formed wardrobe philosophy had emerged.
