Kenneth Cole's expanding womenswear business is aimed at the same young fashion lovers who've taken so well to his footwear and accessories—well enough, in fact, to make him one of the industry's more successful publicly held companies.
The designer's Fall collection will not disappoint them, ranging as it did from trim pinstripe sweaters and boot-cut velvet jeans to slim jersey dresses and low-slung pencil skirts in tweed, suede, denim and leather. Cole did well with leather—as might be expected from a shoe-making veteran—showing looks like a glossy brown double-breasted trench and a supple camel suede jacket with red topstitching.
There were a few misfires, such as the tweed cargo knickers that opened the show and the heavy, hip-length Shaker knit tunics. And the short, preachy film titled September 11, 2001 that opened the proceedings could have been dropped. But the clothes, fortunately, were message-free.
