Richard Chai Love RTW Fall 2010 / NYCFW Day-02

The maxiskirt is back — at least on Richard Chai’s runway. After all those seasons of watching hems climb dangerously north, this turnaround couldn’t have been more refreshing. To wit, a simple georgette button-down over a ribbed wool skirt, both long and elegantly lean. The stretched-out silhouette continued right down to the finale looks featuring all-over sequined waistcoats and pajama pants. One-note? Hardly. Chai kept things lively with a layering motif that piled dresses atop loose trousers and camisoles over sweaters over shirts in a palette of soft grays, gunmetals, coppers and army greens. “I wanted to have a real nonchalance about the collection,” said Chai, noting the T-shirts were done in collaboration with Alternative Apparel. “I wanted to capture the way art students dress.” And if one noticed whiffs of grunge — a vibe boosted by all those cozy fingerless gloves — just don’t tell the designer. “Grunge implies haphazard and disheveled,” he says. “This is more about being carefree.”

































© by WWD / Photos by John Aquino