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NEW YORK (AP) - There were no bells and whistles on the Rag & Bone runway at New York Fashion Week, and that's how the label's co-founders Marcus Wainwright and David Neville intended it.
It was a risk to go with the more minimalist _ maybe 1990s-esque _ aesthetic, Wainwright said in an interview Friday just before the models stepped on to the runway, but a risk work taking. "I think we want to see something quite new for us, actually, quite a big departure from last season. We felt like we needed to change it up and do something cleaner and really fresh, and I hope you will see that."
It was quite a crowd that saw the show, which has become a must-have ticket during the seasonal previews here, drawing a full house to a now-defunct part of Manhattan's main Post Office.
"David and Marcus are dear friends of mine and, like anything as a performer, I appreciate when someone puts together a show and puts their work out there," said actress Lake Bell from her front row seat.
Even though the styles were a departure from the British tailoring that the label has emphasized over the years, there were the hallmarks of the Rag & Bone hipster in the collection, including the long, lean shape, and lots of layers _ they were just lighter this time.
There also were the looks that hit on the trends emerging for next season: delicate dresses _ the best one, the finale, was a whisper-like slip with layers of pink, peach and white; belly-baring cropped tops; and the unlikely synergy between oversized menswear-inspired styles, such as carpenter pants and blazers, and the most ladylike lingerie. Wainwright and Neville even made a convincing case for coveralls paired with a bra top.
They played with metallics, and featured a palette of white, peach, sand and aqua, which, used for a polo dress, was an unexpected dose of country-club cool. Of course, there was black, the favorite.
"You know, I think every season the aim is to try and push forward the idea of what the Rag & Bone girl is and what she could be," said Wainwright. "And, you know sometimes you got to take a bit of a risk and push it a little further than you may feel comfortable with. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not."
No worries, designers.
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