"I was inspired by traditional notions of femininity," said Michelle Smith backstage before her Spring runway show at Lincoln Center. And by femininity, she didn t mean bows and ruffles but rather real curves. Nearly every look in the collection will give Smith s woman an hourglass figure, regardless of whether or not she was born with one.
A black, almost empire-waist wiggle skirt with chevron-patterned netting up the seams showed just a flash of skin paired with the season s requisite bra top. "I m very strategic about how much torso to show and what part to show," Smith said. And she s right—there is a certain sliver that most women are fortunate enough to be able to pull off.
Textiles are always a big part of Smith s repertoire; she does the fabric research and designs the prints herself. This season, those designs were inspired by a trip to Japan and Hawaii, and they were fun in a kawaii sort of way. The most successful was a multicolor parrot print, done on a bra top and high-waisted micro shorts layered under a honeycomb-knit camp shirt and matching bubble skirt. There were couture-inspired elements, too, including a white jacket—again in the lattice knit—with a super-swingy back. By the way, that knit, which came in black and white on a million different separates—from molded sweatshirts to below-the-knee pencil skirts—was very, very see-through. Smith guaranteed that the pieces would be lined for the hordes of buyers that are sure to come a-calling, but on the runway, it looked hip as it was.
