Narciso Rodriguez reports that his latest Pre-Fall collection is 35 percent bigger than his last one, a stat made even more impressive by the fact that what you hear from most designers and retailers these days is how tough business is. Credit for Rodriguez’s success must go to his consistency. All around him fashion can go mad for the bohemian ’70s or grunge ’90s or whatever else is coming down the pike, but Rodriguez stays true to his customer: a high-powered woman who has to look sharp from sunup until well past sundown, and rarely has time for a wardrobe change.
This season, he said, her busy schedule had him thinking a lot about versatility. He’s long been fond of a reversible double-face coat; here he applied that two-for-one idea to a two-piece dress that layered an asymmetric-hem (shorter in front, longer in back) silk tee over a silk slip dress. Elsewhere he was keen to emphasize the uncategorizable quality of a loose-fitting dress with a capelike back. Day? Evening? Do distinctions like that really matter? With the swap of a shoe it would work around the clock. Good thing, then, that Rodriguez’s pointy-toed, slightly elevated mule and low-heeled booties have never looked better.
