For young designers New York Fashion Week is a huge deal, a moment to prove their worth. Will the collection be a smash hit that catapults them into superstardom or a fledgling blend of materials that they struggled to morph into existence? Although this isn’t Jackie Fraser-Swan of Emerson’s first time at Fashion Week you wouldn’t know it by looking at her Spring 2014 collection.
With around seven prints (that felt like a lot less), large floral balls, and stripes that reminded me of the Robin-Thicke-Miley-Cyrus-Beatlejuice debacle (which is another disaster entirely), this show was not the best.
Basically sending the Macy’s junior department down the runway, each piece looked forced; misplaced elements were added to—I’m assuming—up the cool factor. Trends layered atop one another began to conflict, and made it appear as if she was trying too hard to be edgy. Really, nothing can compare with effortless style.
The use of color is brilliant, however, and stays on trend for spring with a background palette of black and white. The addition of vibrant pinks, greens and purples pop on the models, and despite the prints being fairly juvenile, the neon hues and image patterns are fun and new to fashion week this year.
One of her focus colors, a punchy purple, hasn’t been seen on this season’s runway in such a heavy-handed way, and it's great to see her try something new. The head to toe violet is a little much, especially when paired with what looked like a giant purple grapes on the model’s heads, but in retrospect, I’ve seen much stranger and much less wearable pieces from veteran designers.
I will say that if you’re looking for separates for your teenage daughter then this is the label to shop. While not a very developed collection, it has the youthful undertones that trend-hungry kids can get behind. Hopefully as the label progresses we’ll see a shift back to her more successful designs in previous seasons.