Talk of the Tents

The folks at Clover Canyon may design, cut and sew their clothes in sunny California, but the new brand has Russia on the brain for fall.

Called “Winter Palace,” the line takes inspiration from the land of Baryshnikov and Tolstoy, using prints derived from photos of everything from grand architecture to dramatic vistas, from the Siberian plains to the stage of the Ballets Russes. The ornate...

You almost feel like you should have your passport on you when you attend a Sophie Theallet runway show.  Surely there’s some sort of customs checkpoint, where cold but impeccably dressed officials should survey your papers, and a front-row seat requires a visa.  Because as soon as the lights go down, the music pumps in and the models start down the runway, well, it’s clear we’re not in...

French fashion designer Sophie Theallet has a remarkable ability to craft truly special pieces that appear both bohemian and classic in one swoop of her needle and thread. And this collection proves it. Playful, strong, diaphanous, all-out sexy — she juggles a lot of style elements and somehow comes up with a cohesive whole. (And a slew of must-have frocks for women of any age.)

She kicked...

On a runway that resembled a roadway, Reem Acra sent out a series of day and evening looks that offered up a little something for everyone. The pieces varied wildly. It is unlikely, for example, that the lady who buys the navy tailored pantsuit would be caught dead in one of Acra’s nude illusion gowns … these with completely sheer panels running down both sides, from shoulder to floor (um, that...

Truth told, Christian Siriano is known for over-the-top confections, but at Saturday’s afternoon show, he took a more discreet route via the ballet. Inspired by movement and particularly the “Dream Ballet,” performed by the American Ballet Theatre, the show opened with slim pale pink polka-dot cropped pantsuits — a gussied-up version of what dancers might wear hanging around. Later, that same silo...

The crowd was getting antsy sitting alfresco on the terrace of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center Sunday night as Zac Posen was running late, almost by 40 minutes. But then, hit the music (Etta James, singing the 1940s song “A Sunday Kind of Love”) and — BOOM — in saunters Naomi Campbell wearing a vintage-y hibiscus print silk twill and chiffon frock.

All is forgiven.

Campbell was the...

Just how great do women feel in Peter Som’s quirky, luxe and extremely pretty clothes? Just ask ‘em. We did at Som’s early morning show at Made Fashion Week at the Milk Studios, where, among others, Allison Williams, star of the HBO hit series “Girls,” was turned out in a fall number that hit all the trends – oxblood, check; leather, check. “I’m a huge fan, and this is amazing,” she said of her...

Things got wild inside — and outside — the Honor fashion show at Eyebeam, an event space in Chelsea near the Hudson River.  Outside, a young British woman’s bag was stolen, along with her phone, and her chum used her own cellphone to call up the missing device…and chat up the thief, trying to coax him to return it, no questions asked.  And for cash.  Yes, she said — they’d pay him.

Wild!

Inside,...

French-born designer Sophie Theallet has been making a name for herself on the American fashion scene ever since she moved to New York, launched her own label (in 2007) and soon after won the coveted CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award.

Celebs—and a certain First Lady with a penchant for colorful prints—quickly fell in as regular customers. Michelle Obama, in particular, seems drawn to Theallet’s...

A huge, swirling lace graphic backed Tadashi Shoji’s runway heralding the exquisitely beautiful line-up of special-occasion dresses (and we mean special...like the Academy Awards) inspired by the Golden Age of Shanghai. Opulent fabrics – that incredible lace, chiffon, silk and velvet – conjured royalty.

Silhouettes were both modest but smoldering – blousons, nipped tea-length affairs, tiers...