AP News, September 6th, 2007
The collection presented by Cynthia Steffe designer Waleed Khairzada on Thursday at New York Fashion Week was called "Sonic." It could have been called sherbet.
The colors were what seemed to jump off the runway. There was a mix of fuschia, green, turquoise, poppy and citrine. "A palette of clear neon brights ... is grounded by mineral colors and earth tones," Khairzada explained in his notes to the press, retailers and stylists at the show.
One of the emerging trends from these spring previews is color-blocking: mixing a handful of colors on a single garment but not in a purposeful print. Instead, it's about having one color around the neck, another for the bodice and another for the hem. Examples from Cynthia Steffe include an asymmetrical knit dress with magenta, black and green, and the "barcode" dress with horizontal stripes in blue and red against a white backdrop.
The shapes also were interesting. There were several dresses with dropped waists and long skirts. There was an easiness about them that would be particularly tempting in warm weather _ and many of the looks were topped with cropped cardigans for when the evening chill sets in.
This was yet another catwalk that was defined by its dresses, but Khairzada did offer a handful of "Montauk" shorts, presumably named for the Long Island, N.Y., vacation community that's considered one of the more casual parts of the Hamptons. The best way to describe the shorts is looser and more relaxed than their Bermuda cousins.
More summertime looks were sure to be seen at Fashion Week, with swimwear labels Gottex and Rosa Cha among those still left to present their new collections before the shows wind up on Wednesday.
