This season at New York Fashion Week, ApparelMagic client Jonathan Simkhai went way back to the first decades of the twentieth century for inspiration. With an era of bustles and bustiers, lacy drapery and thick velvets to capitalize on, Simkhai made the most of it in the way only he can.
Simkhai, a truly twenty-first century designer, put his own west coast spin on the theme, making his ladies part Gibson Girls and part SoCal starlet. For daywear he proposed something between a saloon girl and a boardroom girlboss with tailored, pinstriped suits with puff-sleeves dropping off bared shoulders.
For evening, Simkhai’s slipdresses hit just the right note in lustrous velvet with lace sleeves and hems offering a sultry mood and extra coverage. Other dresses continued on with his lingerie-based theme, like a black lace gown that goes sheer at the midriff, showing off corsetry-style seams. A showstopping coat even used delicate hooks-and-eyes instead of buttons as a closure. Simkhai is an old pro already when it comes to the art of underthings as outerwear, and as usual, he can always take it to the next level.
