Art continues to play a large part in Vera Wang’s design process. Last spring, for a beautiful collection that earned her the coveted CFDA Award for Women’s Wear, Vera cited the Matisse exhibit at the Met as inspiration, and for fall 2006, it was Rothko’s moody color palette, along with the movie, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", and the 50's, that were fuels for her creative process. Unfortunately, while there were some wonderful pieces and some good ideas, her latest effort was not as successful as the last, owing to the overly worked, overly artsy details that seemed a bit forced and contrived. That said, she was adept at playing the more constructed pieces off those that were softer, more feminine and lingerie inspired. She successfully worked in traditional menswear fabrics (stiff dry wools, tweeds, felt, and glen plaids) to create something more unexpectedly feminine, such as her new take on the skirt suit (like the grey wool check belted short sleeved jacket with tiny ruffles tracing the back, worn over a narrow ‘dirndl’ skirt that fell right below the knee). Beautifully constructed outerwear, like the navy felt pea coat or the grey wool felt wrap car coat, were standouts, and in a season of knitwear, her merino wool elongated color blocked cardigan coats, interestingly paired in one case, with a Rothko print silk textured organza balloon skirted ‘afternoon dress’, or in another, the black charmeuse and georgette slip dress, looked modern. She was also successful at treating fur in non- precious, offhanded way, as if it were just another fabric. This was exemplified by the bottle green astrakhan belted car coat with a cutaway front, the blonde astrakhan mini bolero, the iris mink ¾ sleeveless vest worn over a silk charmeuse shift with quilted flowers, and the ‘pastel’ mink scoop neck, belted kimono sleeved jacket, paired with a charcoal silk charmeuse Empire dress with organza ribbon embroidery. The collection was notable for its texture mixing and textural details, such as the felt, wool, taffeta, and tulle corsages (fabric corsages are a big trend on the runways here).

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