SPRING PREVIEWS: Preview Circuit With DKNY & Kenneth Cole

Yes, folks, it's time for Spring Previews again, and the schedule can be almost as busy as Fashion Week at times. The Shophound will admit that sometimes we go to these things just for the hors d'oeuvres and free drinks, which is how we ended up at an event for DKNY Hosiery to launch a special collaboration with Gossip Girl costume stylist Eric Daman. Frankly, we were really interested in checking out the Dream Hotel in Chelsea where the event was held. For some reason, much to our and the security staff's confusion, we were directed to enter the subterranean Electric Room through the loading dock (despite the presence of a perfectly serviceable staircase from the lobby),  but inside we found a fairly cool bar underpopulated with guests (in fairness, we were there pretty early). There were sullen models looking leggy in their tights (right), but the excitement had yet to kick in and we had to go uptown to...

Kenneth Cole's Hell's Kitchen showroom on Eleventh Avenue for a more conventional sort of preview. With a brand like this the interest is not so much in what's new, but what's filtering down to more accessible labels. In this case it is bright color blocks and the spectre of the '80s (left) including a unlikely mash-up of snakeskin pattern printed on leather haircalf (or cavallino for those who find 'haircalf' too graphic a term) (below). This material made it into shoes, handbags, a skirt, a dress and billowing silk scarf. For men there were the not terribly surprising but well executed multi-colored boat shoes as well as suede buck chukkas with eraser red rubber soles (right). Overall, it looks like fashion-at-a-price will be well served by Cole next Spring. We were only charmed more when upon exiting, we were presented with a little box from Ladurée containing three macarons, a green pistachio, a pink one that smelled like roses, and a creamy caramel one that made us fully understand the appeal of the famous French sweet shop. Our aversion to standing in line on the sidewalk has kept us from sampling the new Ladurée on madison Avenue, and this little bit of swag saved us the trouble, so Yay Kenneth Cole!

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SPRING 2012 PREVIEWS: Eddie Bauer Charges Ahead With A New Look for Spring

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Though Fashion Week is long over, this is the time of year when other brands less reliant on runway shows and trade shows unveil their upcoming offerings to the press. Last season, the eminent outfitter chain Eddie Bauer debuted a new design team who gave a much-needed update to the retailer's formerly innocuous apparel lines.

Spring 2012 finds the team hitting its stride and continuing with their archive focused-heritage approach while adding a potent dose of color that is right in sync with recent trends from the runways. It might take a while for customers to think of Eddie Bauer and Fashion at the same time, but the company has enough faith in its designers to eschew the services of a stylist and let them present their work the way they conceived of it themselves. They made a great case for the brand as a youthful sportswear resource. The entrance of Happy Monkey Studios in Midtown was covered in moss to remind everyone of the brand's roots as a rugged outfitter, and they are even offering camping tents in the season's bright accent colors.

The collection's great strength remains outerwear, with lots of functional (many reversible) pieces inspired by the Eddie Bauer archives including details taken from vintage backpacks. Other standouts included anoraks with drawstring details in heavy knit or chambray, superlight MicroTherm down pieces from the First Ascent label, a long casual skirt in ripstop parachute silk and lots of newly slimmed-down and brightly colored jeans and pants that should go a long way toward banishing the old frumpy image of clothes from Eddie Bauer and give resurgent heritage brands like Gant a run for their money.

What's still missing? A New York City flagship store (though there are locations in Forest Hills and in several surrounding New York, New Jersey and Connecticut suburbs). For most of us in Manhattan, the only opportunity to see the company's new look in person is at a press event like this one. Otherwise, it's an online experience. We think it's about time for at least a pop-up store to reintroduce New Yorkers to the brand's new direction, so consider that request submitted. In the meantime, we will be happily carrying around the bright yellow backpack we received on our way out.

Previously:
Don't Call It A Comeback: Eddie Bauer Revamps And Upgrades for Fall 2011 (04.22.2011)