Coming off a collection heavy on black and dense mohair knits, Doo-Ri Chung let the light in for Spring. Citing Bruce Nauman's False Silence installation as inspiration, she added decorative fluorescent piping to short dresses; the tubes hugged the torso, suggesting hourglass curves. Chung's electric color palette also took cues from the neon artist: A halter dress with ruching on the bodice came in an arresting neon pink, there were a pair of dresses in a deep emerald green, and a silk tie-front blouse came in brilliant navy.
Another way the collection felt light? Last season it seemed as if Chung had said good-bye for good to jersey, the fabric with which she made her name. But she brought it back today, and in its absence she had clearly been doing some thinking about novel ways to use it. Exhibit one: In jersey, the pants of the season—high-waisted, roomy through the hips and upper thighs, and tapering to the ankle—looked fresh and new. Likewise, Chung reinvented that up-from-the-streets item, the boyish vest, by showing it in a feminine bias drape. And as for her jersey dresses, she beat the been-there-done-that rap by playing with macramé overlays. Chung's steady-as-she-goes style is paying off.
