February 7, 2006
The college constituency is clearly a prime target for a designer's
second line—as borne out by the menswear aesthetic of Marc by Marc or
Star USA by John Varvatos. Now DKNY has moved in the same direction,
with a collection that would be a gift to anyone costuming a movie about campus life.
It was easy to imagine a gamut of students—from preppies to beats—garbed in these clothes,
especially given the way they were layered for the show.
There was something about the pinstripes worn over a denim vest,
the washed-cotton suit jacket topping another in green leather,
or the cabled cardigan tossed over a suit, that embodied
a youthfully considered approach to dressing.
Knitwear, slouchy and striped or cabled, was also appealing.
Leather jeans looked like they'd fitted originally,
but had bagged out with continued wearing.
A satin-lapelled jacket in dark-green washed velvet suggested a broken-down formality.
These were clothes with a tale to tell—the very thing that drew college kids
to vintage dressing in the first place.
