Colourful chic rules

Colourful array of psychedelic prints and floral patterns signalled that NY Fashion Week had finally emerged from the shadow on 9/11

New York fashion week has turned the page on September 11 and come out fighting in its own way: more avant garde, more colour, more money. The look of many of the collections reflects a new emphasis on youthfulness – underscored by a retail survey which reveals that the hotel heiress, Paris Hilton, 23, the actress Lindsay Lohan, 18, and reality television star Jessica Simpson, 24, are now the key role models for young American shoppers.

Leading the pack was the hip Australian label, Sass and Bide. The collection, ‘WolfNation’, took inspiration from Native American tribal dress and the television series Xena, Warrior Princess. Elizabeth Jagger, 19, the daughter of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and his former wife Jerry Hall made a single appearance in a metallic tunic and stove-pipe jeans, with her head and arms decorated in feathers.

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The eight-day event last week featured about 90 shows. New York sought some high-powered names to back its return. Beyonce and Rod Stewart, Avril Lavigne, Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, Andre 3000, Usher and Hoobastank all performed at a special concert at Radio City Music Hall to mark fashion week.

Most of the US ready-to-wear clothes makers also have a new spring in their step. The Phillips Van Hausen group, which owns Calvin Klein, doubled its profits in the first six months of the year. And European makers such as Burberrys and Chanel Haute Couture have followed thanks to the appetite for fashion from booming China.

Says Marshall, “Fashion generates the interest that music or cinema used to.” In a sign of the times, small independent labels such as As Four, Jeremy Scott, Heatherette or Imitation of Christ, part of the American avant garde which seeks to remain pragmatic and viable, have returned to fashion week, alongside established names like Oscar de la Renta. US fashion giants Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan were also there with star designers Marc Jacobs of LVMH and Narciso Rodriguez.