Surveillance, with all its Big Brother connotations, is the way true fashion is born: Designers scan the streets to divine tomorrow’s trends by reading the outfits of stylish passersby. We tap into the sensation of spying—and being spied on—in “Surveillance act”, our clandestine look at ladylike layering this fall. In the same vein, “At ease” shows that men, too, can pile it on and look sleek, not bulky. We also celebrate stealth, the ability to fly under fashion’s radar, which surfaces in the form of accessories (“Black market,”). And we directed our gaze toward tomorrow’s talent by checking in on what the kids are doing—namely, the wearable wares made by Class of 2006 Parsons and FIT graduates (“Projected runway,”). We scoped out local creators’ new handbag collections (“Bag and forth,”) and high-end designers’ democratically priced clothes and shoes (“Designers within reach,”), aiming to broaden their audience to include folks on the street—where fashion begins.—Marissa Patlingrao Cooley, Check Out editor
Time Out New York / Issue 572: September 14–20, 2006
