What happened to Zac? It was a newly pared down, structured, and rigorous design oriented Zac Posen we all got to see on the runway at Bryant Park Thursday night. Gone are the strong colors, gone are the prints and patterns, and gone is the emphasis on late day, cocktail, and big time evening clothes that have come to define the young designer who has always been taken by Old Hollywood. It was very pared down, stripped away, and concise in its color palette that relied only on dark navy, ivory, silver, and black, and in its rigorous silhouette that was predominantly narrow, lean, and short. (Shades of Alaia and Mugler from the 80’s). There were nothing below the knee or midcalf- skirts and dresses, either narrow or full, were short- sometimes very short, and skinny cropped black pants (leather in many cases) were paired with narrow shouldered and lean belted short coats or shrunken jackets, some with a military feel. He, like many others, is still taken with the white blouse, and offered several versions, one with short sleeves and a small architectural bow at the throat, and one with voluminous, long sleeves, pairing them with cuffed narrow menswear trousers or short belted skirts in black or dark navy. His two voluminous evening gowns at the end (one in black satin and the other a tulle confection in silver with a matching loose short coat as a cover up), were the only vestiges of the ‘old’ young Zac, and were probably comprised of more fabric than was used in all the other pieces in the collection combined. Who knows, we may see one or both walking down the red carpet at the upcoming Academy Awards.

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