Narciso Rodriguez approached fall in a contemplative mood. This would be “a collection for sobering times,” he said backstage before his show. Rodriguez called the cultural moment a “particularly challenging time for any creator’s life in America,” and added that fashion’s internal politics could use their own reset. “There’s so much fashion. There’s too much fashion and too much noise, and I don’t think that’s appropriate today.”
Rodriguez has never designed to the cacophony. His approach is all about addressing his customer’s wardrobe needs and fashion desires, which he does via rigorous attention to cut and construction, every detail an object of acute consideration.
For fall, Rodriguez took that approach even further than usual. While in recent seasons he has added deft decoration via prints and embroideries, here, he eschewed any such flourish and most color. (But for a few pieces in the orange range, when he veered from neutrals it was with shades of iris, yellow and blue so light as to be almost imperceptible.) Instead, he relied solely on cut and seaming not only to create the silhouette, but for adornment as well. The result was a lineup of beautiful, real clothes that could have benefited from just a small dose of adrenaline.
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Rodriguez detailed the clothes with horizontal cutouts and banded details: a white twill crepe vest dress with had a band securing its deep V-neck; a similar fabric strip bridged the side slit of a black skirt. Throughout, the tailoring was typically strong, featuring a recurring motif of chic cropped pants with coats and jackets. The outerwear impressed in proportions both oversized (gray mélange wool; white wool) and lean (copper wool with black collar; black wool with tab closure).
Rodriguez’s contrasted the tailoring with controlled fluidity. Wool barathea and twill dresses and skirts worked the sturdy side of ease, while a paneled gauze shirtdress extended into a graceful trapeze. For evening, Rodriguez’s discrete take on glamour included a languid iris silk column spliced with two arcs of black wool — a sensual stunner.