Nancy Lichtenstein returns with her take on Abaete &
After seeing Barbie at Bloomingdale’s, my first official New York Fashion Week gig was to go backstage at Abaeté to talk to David Cruz of Redken. I’ve been trying to recreate a facsimile of the crocheted chain mail detachable hoods from Abaeté’s Spring 2009 show since September so I was eager to see what David and designer Laura Poretzky had cooked up for fall. The backstage luminaries at Abaeté for Fall 2009 were photographer and television host Nigel Barker and socialite Carrie Cloud.
The inspiration for the fall collection was a photograph of a 19th century male equestrian and the clothes recreated the somber tones of an old photograph with shades of black, white and grey. The standout look for me was a pair of cropped cigarette pants worn with a white blouse with prominent ascot and a slouchy grey jacket with an enormous portrait collar.
The mood of the collection perfectly matched the current zeitgeist we’re experiencing due to the horrendous economy–serious and severe. In fact, I noticed things were a lot more subdued in general at Fashion Week this season, like no one wants to go all out for fear of being accused of acting like Marie Antoinette.
David Cruz didn’t hold back on the hairstyles, though. They were unique in that they looked like high updos from the front but featured long intricate beribboned braids in the back–clearly a nod at the idea of a horse tail, or perhaps it was a riding crop? At any rate, David accomplished the height with one product and a lot of teasing, an astonishing feat–or maybe not so astonishing considering that one product was Workforce 9, the workhorse hairspray of the Redken line.
Tina Turnbow of Tarte was in charge of makeup for the show, and it was simple and pure:clean, dewy skin and flushed cheeks and lips with very little color otherwise. It’s a no-makeup look that anyone can wear if they pick up a Tarte Cheekstain in Blushing Bride. I for one will be happy to put away the heavy eyeliner and have a single item to toss in my purse to be good to go.
Thankyou to Nancy Lichtenstein for her coverage of the Abaete runway and also the behind-the-scenes breakdown on the beauty elements. The Tarte look sounds absolutely in tune with the economy.
Stevie Wilson
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AbaetA and Redkin seem to have grabbed the front stage for dress and hair fashion. The looks are sleek, stylized and classic, something a few of the starlets at the Oscars should have tried to capture. Thanks, Nancy, for your fashion forte and for bringing home the best for those of us who can not attend Fashion Week.