Badgley Mischka
by Marilyn Kirschner | photographed by Yannis Vlamos

Of the 54 looks that came down the runway today, at least half if not more, were day time, or at least mixed day and night. Certainly a far cry from seasons ago when the popular and dashing duo, (Mark Badgley and James Mischka) known for dressing socialites, celebrities, and stars on the red carpet, showed only cocktail and evening clothes. Well, that was then and this is now and they have evolved with the times and moved on. The 2007 fall collection, which included items from Badgley Mischka Platinum Sportswear, Badgley Mischka Platinum Evening, Badgley Mischka Couture, Badgley Mischka Furs, was all about a sporty, toned down approach to luxury. The models' hair was pulled back into a slightly messed up chignon and they were fresh faced and minimally accessorized. It was polished and elegant. Skirts were short and paired with boots or high heels; and pants were both generously cut and menswear inspired, or streetwise and skinny. Menswear fabrics like chocolate glen plaid, coffee tweed, and smoke tweed were offset with chocolate Persian lamb, mink, and fox. And yes, there was a lot of fur, and it looked good.

Standouts include the cream plucked mink coat with massive fox collar and hem, which was thrown over a cream merino sweater; a chocolate Persian lamb cropped bolero paired with an espresso merino sweater and chocolate micro twill pants; a white cotton shirt with double gathered sleeves which was paired with a black lurex gauze short skirt; a sleek and pared down black wool cropped collarless jacket with short wide sleeves, worn with skinny black wool pants. For evening, the colors were primarily black, worked against jewel tones: amethyst, navy, hematite, platinum, anthracite, smoke gunmetal, and gold. A short gold shift had an overlay of net (overlays were a pervasive theme), and the group of long gracefully floating empire waist gowns in georgette and satin were trimmed generously with sprays of silver crystal embroidery resembling liquid molten silver or featured jewel encrusted necklaces or bodices.