Lorenzo Serafini’s Philosophy collections are muse-driven. This season, he was looking at a lot of early ’80s images of Tina Chow, the model, jewelry designer, and New York nightlife exemplar who was married to the restaurateur Michael Chow. Serafini responded to her tomboyish glamour, and thanks to her mixed heritage—she was the daughter of a German father and a Japanese mother and grew up in Ohio, of all places—the offhanded way she blended Western and Eastern style.
Chow, who died from complications from AIDS at 41 in 1992, is a muse for the ages, long referenced by designers. But she’s an apt icon for this moment, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea seem to be approaching a tipping point. Serafini hasn’t been one for making runway messages in the past; he designs party dresses and day clothes with a playful spirit. But he had a message today. The models came out for their finale dressed all in white, while Boy George sang Culture Club’s “War Song” on the soundtrack: “War, war is stupid and people are stupid and love means nothing in some strange quarters.”
The clothes were true to the New Wave styles of Chow’s early ’80s heyday, with blouson shapes, paper-bag waists, and handkerchiefs tied effortlessly around the neck. Typically, Serafini is a dress man, but he made a convincing case for his jumpsuits here, as well as salopettes in cotton or leather. He also had a handful of nice Japanese denim pieces with thoughtful touches, like a minidress with snaps that traced the side seam and nautical stripe cuffs. Nautical was one of the show’s leitmotifs, and he handled his stripes in a fresh way, trimming floral-print dresses with them. A green floral-print cheongsam worn with obi-belted, high-waisted red pants synthesized his East-West theme; it was also a great outfit.
