Last season's long-skirted hippies deluxe may have been a leap too far for Andrew Gn and his blue-chip clients. For Fall, he returned to more familiar territory, finding inspiration in the work of the twentieth-century architects and interior designers Pierre Chareau and Eileen Gray. What he came up with was essentially a collection of shirts, jackets, and coats, with simple leather pants or jersey leggings acting as an easel upon which his canvases, with all of their flourishes, could be displayed.
By flourishes we mean the hand-pleated, fan-shaped collar of a triple organza blouse that grazed the model's chin; the neckline of a plissé tulle top embroidered with a bib of tonal crystals; and the asymmetrical lapels of a jacket, one side swathed in fox, the other picked out in jet. A pair of black day dresses got the same kind of treatment. They were the picture of restraint, except for their Art Deco necklines.
Evening was a similar story—beaded bodices with metallic or jewel-tone silk falling in orderly pleats to the floor. There's no faulting Gn's exquisite fabrics or couture-level techniques, but as rich as it was in that sense, the focus on the upper half of the body made this show feel repetitive. It would've been nice to see Gn apply his robust imagination to skirts, pants, and a cocktail frock or two.
