Sex & Seduction in Sportwear ( From International Herald Tribune)

Sex and seduction in sportswear
Proenza Schouler, Peter Som, Thakoon, Carolina Herrera, Isaac Mizrahi and more
By Suzy Menkes
Published: September 9, 2008
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NEW YORK: Brooke Shields, in a shapely pantsuit, walked the red carpet at Calvin Klein's 40th birthday bash this week.
It seemed like a giant stride from those ads in which the teenage actress proclaimed that "nothing comes between me and my Calvins." But it was a reminder of the subversive sexuality that the house's founder brought to American sportswear.
Symbolically, all the strong shows of New York Fashion Week are tapping into that same concept: the reinvention of sporty clothes with an undercurrent of hip sensuality. Leaving behind the pretty, girly uptown vibe that has been the New York fashion look since the start of this new millennium, the clothes are stronger, tougher and more deliberately seductive.
The design duo at Proenza Schouler moved from city smart to tough workwear and it made for a fine transition. Overalls, reworked with a bold zipper and with cutaway straps baring the back, sent a sexual charge through clothes that were otherwise big and even baggy. They were also in the spirit of the 1980s, with rounded sleeves tracing the arms like a crescent moon and a sense of oversize controlled by a cinching belt. Veronica Lake hair streaming over one eye and shoes tilted on heels that looked like metallic tools added a provocative touch.
Sexuality is not new to the designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who have toyed with brassieres and corset tops inserted into uptown looks. But this season the combination of sporty fabrics like athletic mesh, in an egg shape above billowing track pants, and the curvy shape of the rounded sleeves gave just that subversive thrust that makes sportswear seem modern.
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The shoes told the story in Peter Som's fine show: wrapped in a bandage of Hessian straps to give the effect of feet splattered with sand. The footwear underscored a desert theme, taken at a gallop with "Lawrence of Arabia" as inspiration - hence the models with loose hair, wide cuffed shorts, brief skirts wafting in light layers or mid-calf dresses cinched with leather at the waist.
Som's skill came through in the color palette that went from sandy beige through shades of oasis spring water to sky blue and turquoise, then hotted up to the sunset pink that made a subtle suede dress.
"It's sexier than usual," said Som. But this well-thought-out show was never vulgar and expressed a sporty freedom of a modern woman.
"Seduction and fetishism," announced Thakoon Panichgul backstage to define dresses worked with the effect of trussed ribbons and rubbery nylon coats. With an echo chamber of ideas from Lanvin et al., this collection seemed like it was trying too hard. The high points of the Thakoon show came when he played with print, having dancing legs come out of the stamens of a rose, in a neat metaphor for sporty energy and sweet romance.
When Carolina Herrera shows a skinny, streamlined pantsuit in matador red, you know that the feel for sportswear is galloping through fashion. In fact, although she cited the influence of Italian painting and of Russian constructivists, this show seemed more influenced by the Spanish bullring and the designer's South American roots. Think of frills cascading down dresses that all seemed aimed at that familiar totem: the red carpet.
What worked best was the Herrera hallmark: the beautiful blouse, dramatic in black chiffon, with transparent puffy sleeves and worn with high-waist toreador pants in yellow and black print; or pristine as the designer's signature white blouse with black embroidery and a pencil skirt.
Isaac Mizrahi, showing his couture line on a big ballroom stage, knows all about sportswear - from his signature style in the 1980s and because he has been tapped to design for the iconic sportswear house Liz Claiborne.
What came out on the runway was sports couture: a mix of big, light shapes worn with skintight corsets and bicycle pants in eye-popping fluorescent colors. A shocking pink bra was worn boldly under a floaty dress and a ball gown flipped open to show Day-Glo green shorts. The show was endearing in its energy, although there were some clunky dresses heavy with paillettes and others that looked like Snow White dressing for a 1950s prom. Shiny surfaces and modern fabrics made the new Mizrahi seem intriguing.
Genuine sportswear companies are in their element this season. The Y-3 label, with the collaboration of Yohji Yamamoto, hit its target with its graphic play on the famous Adidas stripes for both sexes. While the male might have a bathrobe of a coat in horizontal stripes, a woman's calf-length dress with shifting layers of stripes gave a different effect. From smart sports shoes (with the three signature stripes) to subtle mixes of masculine and feminine (as a tunic with a bow at the back, worn with racing stripe pants), Y-3 is true to its designer's romantic modernist identity.

Diesel Black Gold is a model of how to give a denim company a sharp fashion edge. By playing with fabric, using fine ticking-striped cotton or paint-splash effects, and by experimenting with new shapes, from drop-crotch to harem pants, the clothes looked as modern as the undulating sound waves projected on the backdrop. If helmets recalled last season's Proenza Schouler show and feather vests mirrored Burberry's collection, this Diesel line still has a personal identity that is fresh and hip.
Z-Zegna is a men's line designed to incorporate the luxury and elegance of the Ermenegildo Zegna Italian brand with a more casual and sporty image. By bringing this younger, hipper menswear collection to New York, Zegna is building a wider international identity for the brand.