New York Fashion Week :: Chaiken [The ZOO]

Chaiken

Chaiken :: Spring Summer 2006

Julie Chaiken and Jeff Mahshie's 2006 Spring showing kept to their roots of clean, crisp lines and feminine silhouettes. They have followed a similar color palette to last season of Beige, ivory, white, black punctuated with red, chartreuse, hot pink. High collars on filmy, 40's inspired dresses, slouchy, wrap tops with tailored pant, a fabulous wrap coat with piping detail, looked sophisticated and fresh.

Makeup was bright with a touch of flushed cheek and hair was loose but pulled softly away from the face, think 40's but with a modern twist. The look worked well with the clothes, keeping the focus on the fashion than the makeup and hair. Their bodice dress in grey crinkle silk with bone cropped cardigan was a nice touch. I felt this collection was definitely for the professional woman who looks for classic, relaxed clothes. There was a light teal chiffon dress with a camel coat that was gorgeous and a great example of this. Their red taffeta dress with wide sash was reminiscent of Cybil Sheppard in the last picture show... and the low-slung skirts with shirred tops were great as well. The quintessential baby doll dress that seemed to be cropping up in many of the shows this season was there as well, right on target. This time coupled with a cropped aqua marine toned jacket and wide black sash belt. Their mixture of sheen and texture gave this collection richness and took it from being retro to modern. I like this effort a lot and felt that it was a consistent, bankable showing. [Kelley Quan]