Jill Stuart had just wrapped an interview in which she praised the punctuality and professionalism of Lindsay Lohan, her current ad campaign star and America's number one screwup (poor Britney excluded). The designer probably shouldn't have been surprised by the next question: Did her Spring collection have a good-girls-behaving-badly theme?
Stuart paused before answering. "No," she said, smiling.
But the fashion industry, like the country at large, is obviously fascinated with the delinquent sorority sisters of Hollywood. And despite Stuart's somewhat coy denial, there were plenty of devilish ideas about angels gone wrong on her runway. It began with a dreamy parade of cotton candy organza cut into minidresses, rompers, and jumpsuits with darling ruffles. But then, like Anakin becoming Lord Vader, the show turned to the dark side. There was familiar bad-girl wear, like a strapless catsuit, but also more sophisticated silhouettes, some bow blouses and tuxedos in all black, and long Lucite chains wrapped around necks with a wink-wink ball-and-chain effect. Fun, yes. Wearable? Not particularly.
Trend alert: Stuart isn't the only designer experimenting with translucent organza these days. But it remains an open question how much Stuart's young and young-at-heart fans, specifically, will enjoy stepping into the stiff, sheer silk. We hope her starlet clients remember to wear panties.
