With the Week's Newcomers, Enter the Warrior Princess - NYTimes article

[DosViolines]

source: nytimes.com

With the Week's Newcomers, Enter the Warrior Princess

By ERIC WILSON
Published: September 16, 2005


THE model wore a ruffled dove-gray housedress and an apron as she walked through a town house in the West Village. It was a look that would have raised questions about the antiquated notion of a woman's place being in the kitchen had it not been designed by Milla Jovovich, who only recently discovered that her home in Los Angeles has a kitchen.

Phillip Greenberg for The New York Times JOVOVICH-HAWK
A silk and lace slip dress with a bolero jacket.




Ms. Jovovich, the actress, who designs the collection Jovovich-Hawk with Carmen Hawk, is better known for her battles with mutant-zombie-lab animals in films like "Resident Evil," while wearing an ensemble of skintight leather. She is not a "girlie" girl, but the clothes the two women showed at Ms. Jovovich's own town house were certainly feminine, including a washed floral print sundress with antique lace pockets and a gown made of ivory tulle assembled in cascading tiers.

If that was all there was to Jovovich-Hawk, the two young women would likely not have made it past the buyers' assistants at Barneys New York or Fred Segal, which stocked a handful of their first efforts this season. Instead, they had the good sense to rough up their designs a bit with the hard edge of a wide leather belt or a vaguely military cropped jacket to give a bit of versatility to an otherwise wedding cake of a dress.

"It's for the feral girl scout," Ms. Jovovich said. "This is for a beautiful warrior princess."

Let it not be said, as it is of Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs and other celebrity designers, that Ms. Jovovich has not thrown herself into her work. Last month, she flew to Kiev to find seamstresses willing to produce her samples at a price that would not send the collection into an unreasonable stratosphere, and in March she and Ms. Hawk, a former model, attended the Première Vision trade show outside Paris to research fabrics.

James Purcell, an evening-wear designer who introduced her around the fair, recalled Ms. Jovovich's insistence on trekking to every stall at Première Vision, which occupies about 10 times the floor space of the Javits Convention Center in New York. Jennifer Nicholson, the designing daughter of Jack, requested a golf cart.

The fine results of Ms. Jovovich's and Ms. Hawk's tenacity should be an example to emerging designers who get into fashion the hard way: anonymously. Of the newcomers to Fashion Week, and there were many, few delivered goods that looked as if their creators had spent more time worrying about the clothes than about what it would be like to be Proenza Schouler.

Liz McClean was one. Ms. McClean has a thorough knowledge of the designer market as the stylist for actresses like Maggie Gyllenhaal, but the collection she showed expressed her vision of fashion in a distinct voice. Her minimalist look was based almost entirely on featherweight silk chiffon and cotton jersey. Many dresses had a raw-edged neckline and varied in color along the spectrum of a L'eggs display, and they were nearly as transparent as pantyhose, too.

Last season Jeremy Laing, a fresh-faced 25-year-old from Toronto, showed a puzzling collection of Edwardian-style jackets over thermal underwear. In retail parlance this is the equivalent of crying wolf. Those who sat through his second effort, however, were rewarded with a wearable collection of chiffon blouses cut like athletic jerseys, tailored shorts and some beautiful evening gowns made of a men's tie fabric.

Katie Zorn, who came to the attention of retailers last year at a show organized by Gen Art, the nonprofit group that showcases young talent, started her collection with ancient Egypt on her mind but kept the references limited to color - beige, ivory and gold - and fabric - gauzy silk, linen and cotton. Like many young designers working with such grown-up fabrics, Ms. Zorn, who is 28 and once worked for Bill Blass, showed a collection that would have been destined for mothers of the bride, or mummies, had it not been for her deft touch in rolling the waistbands of her daytime skirts or removing the back from a satin gown to enhance its allure.

Meanwhile, her brethren in this year's Gen Art show barely stepped outside the ruffled chiffon blouses and linen shorts that designers in New York are promoting as the spring uniform. That is, except for the label Beckerman, designed by three sisters who had the fabulous audacity to trim a lace bra with long mint and copper ribbons, like a stripper bursting through a carwash.

Martin Andersson had some nice pleated skirts that showed laborious workmanship, but they were for men.

images: nytimes.com

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]Corina Lecca[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]LIZ MCCLEAN
A silk chiffon gown with a pin-tucked bodice.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]Neil Rasmus[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]KATIE ZORN
A skirt and asymmetrical top of silk and linen.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]Michael Cullen[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]JEREMY LAING
A belted cotton canvas trench with a back flap.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]Norman Y. Lono for The New York Times[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, San Serif][size=-1]BECKERMAN
A silk ribbon tank top and rolled linen shorts[/size][/font]

 

[finalfashion]

Thanks for posting Dos Violines, it's nice to see coverage of Jeremy Laing and other new designers.

 

[Scott]

Have to say,I admire Milla Jovovich for actually being involved instead of having a "team" or another designer-like Stefani is-doing their work. Trekking every stall at Premier Vision is an arduous journey(as our dear administrator Lena does it every season)...she seems really passionate about doing this.

And I actually quite like that dress you posted,DosViolines*

 

[fashionista-ta]

Liked this article, and *loved* this line: "Many dresses ... varied in color along the spectrum of a L'eggs display ..."

We're just not gonna get a better indictment of this season's color scheme than that