There were plenty of blues at Nicole Miller's Fall 2011 runway show, but not the kind Bessie Smith used to sing about. The designer's Fall 2011 show was full of baby blues, deep midnight blues and sparkling night sky blues. Indeed, the many blue pieces were the first thing that struck me about this runway show. I counted six pieces in the collection featuring various shades of blue. There were also many charcoals, grays and blacks backing those blues.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Miller in 2010 about her very fashion forward style last year. With her Fall 2011 collection she's still offering new takes on traditional styles like the little black dress. For Fall 2011, the designer showed a collection full of her trademark touches: dresses with geometric shapes, gun metal/metallic tops , figure hugging skirts, and tunic style dresses over tights or pants. One of my favorites from the collection was a belted black dress with a stunning asymmetrical neckline. It looked like a futuristic take on Audrey Hepburn style.
A futuristic flair seems to have been the intent in the collection, there was a definite fast forward fashion feel to Ms. Miller's Fall Collection. The designer's show notes called the collection "angles over curves with a menswear influence" and that was very apparent. The silhouettes were not nearly as body conscious as previous Nicole Miller styles. Women might actually be able to wear some of these styles without the "de riguer" body slimming foundations usually required. The many "quadrilaterals and triangles" printed on the garments were more characteristic of Ms. Miller's previous shows. Those shapes were seen on both the gray and red dresses in the collection, and the blue and black dresses. More subdued were the white and black separates from the collection in the form of vests, pants and cardigans. There was nothing fashion forward about the white and black pieces, but they were chic and definitely timeless. You can never go wrong with a black and white pairing, especially for fall. I was just surprised to see it in the Ms. Miller's runway line-up along with the more stunning and attention getting blues.
It was interesting that the surprise Nicole Miller delivered this Fashion Week was to go a little more traditional, showing black and white separates and looser garments. There were not as many sheath styles or techno metal dresses and skirts, but there were still plenty of the Ms. Miller's trademark geometric patterns and shapes walking down the Lincoln Center runway. It will be interesting to see if any of what was shown makes its way into her lower priced collection at J.C. Penney.
Photo credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.