"You don t have to wear big shoulder pads and dark suits to be a powerful woman," said Tadashi Shoji before showing his Spring lineup, entitled Sweet Liberation. To illustrate the notion, Shoji delivered a collection of delicate dresses and separates made of lace and organza in frosted—but not exactly pastel—candy colors. Shoji has a way with proportion, and it gave his classically styled clothes a much needed modernity. An ivory lace tee—paired with black tap shorts—benefited from a swingy back. A plaid silk organza tea dress got a hip upgrade layered under a crop top. And a simple nude neoprene number with lace overlay looked more structured because of strong seaming and a neat little peplum. The designer is best known for his eveningwear, and while he incorporated plenty of hand-beading into those looks, the collection was still very much about the colors. Shoji s generous use of overlays meant the shades weren t too saturated, or too wimpy either. (The blush pink styles in particular were kicked up a notch by the use of black embroidered tulle.) If there was a misstep, it was the use of feather fringe underneath a crop top. Liberated or not, no one wants to look stuffed.
