Brazilian-born Alexandre Herchcovitch followed up his strong Spring show with a walk on the conceptual side for Fall. The predominant silhouette was the voluminous skirt, puffed up with tulle petticoats and possibly inspired by Christian Dior's classic post-war "New Look." While Dior's aim was to create attenuated "femme fleurs," Herchcovitch, in contrast, looks to deconstruct traditional conceptions of beauty. He speckled or covered his models' faces with varying degrees of black paint, hung photographs on chains around their necks and substituted sneakers for stilettos.
The step-riddled set was effective for showing the beauty of color and volume in motion (models flashed their fluorescent knee braces climbing up and down), but the self-conscious presentation often overwhelmed the viable sportswear separates slipped in among the more inflated looks. Most notable were the cargo pants, which the designer made his own with the successful addition of quilting and lingerie button detailing, and the well-tailored jackets and denim pieces that were the true stars of Herchcovitch's show-cum-installation.
