A trip to Bouchra Jarrar's atelier makes you realize how dangerous the runway can be for a designer. How it makes them do unessential, excessive, even silly things. A short list of the ridiculousness we've seen this week: two heavy winter coats when one would do, triple fisting handbags, and evening dresses made out of a material used for boots.
Jarrar isn't a silly woman. She opts out of the catwalk for her ready-to-wear collections. With her, clothes are clothes, designed to be worn. She lets the cuts do the talking, and her cuts are exceptional. For Fall, she's done a fantastic lean-legged flare, but most of her pants have a sporty sixties mien, cropped north of the ankle and featuring ribbed stripes down the sides. Sleeveless coats familiar from her Couture show reappeared here in more everyday yet still unique fabrics. She works closely with mills to develop exclusive weaves, even colors. And speaking of color, Jarrar had a beauty on her hands with the hot pink she used as an accent on an army green side-zip jacket. It was a surprise. She typically uses black, navy, and charcoal gray. More proof that some of fashion week's most singular pleasures are to be found far from the runway.
