DKNY / Fall 2012 RTW

DKNY / Fall 2012 RTW

The fact that there is never a cab around when you need one is a constant gripe of all New Yorkers; the fight to catch one during Fashion Week is a sideshow in itself. There is one place, however, you’re always likely to find a yellow taxi these days, and that’s at the DKNY show, where for the past few seasons, a cab has been parked at the top of the runway and rolls onto the street. Today has undoubtedly been the coldest day this week, and as the army of models swept in from the sidewalk, they brought with them a frosty chill, and fashion editors in the front row huddled together to keep warm. Wearing a shiny black leather and shearling coat fastened securely around the neck, the first model that walked into the spotlight was more appropriately dressed than most for a cold New York winter. That high, wind-shielding collar ran through the entire collection, sometimes worn as a detachable scarf atop one-button blazers with leather sleeves and black dresses with flirty leather peplum insets. Indeed, if there is one insulating top layer set to topple fashion’s current love of fur this season—judging from what we’ve seen of fall thus far—it’s leather. It appears all over the collection, from the head-to-toe look of a skirt suit to the embossed croc corset-like belts cinching a cozy puffer.

That being said, the strongest message to come through for fall resonates at the brand’s very core. It’s time for the young, city-dwelling DKNY girl to go back to black. In the 20-plus years since the label launched, that idea of an urban uniform has became a universal, working dress code across the world. In that sense, it’s easy to forget that the all-black-everything look originated here with women like Donna Karan. When the designer emerged from the street to take her bow at the end of the show, she did so dressed in the shearling that opened the show; the consummate New Yorker through and through.

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