Just like the latest fashion crazes, New York Fashion Week came in just as quickly as it left, with Feb. 17 as its last day at Lincoln Center. Fashion Week has since moved onto London and will head over to Milan and then end in Paris by March.

As a whole, New York Fashion Week showed great designers with beautiful collections that featured bright colors, great accessories and tough outerwear. However, much to my dismay, trends from the spring, and even from last fall, still resonated throughout many of the designers’ collections. Militaristic elements were still present in most outerwear pieces, as were neon colors. Also, the 1970s look drenched at least half of the designers who showed at New York Fashion Week. Yes, it was definitely an iconic time in American sportswear and glamour, but Marc Jacobs already set the tone for the neo-’70s in his spring collection, and a season later it seems like everyone else has jumped on board.

‘Walking into the Marc Jacobs show tonight, a retailer remarked, ‘We have to come here in order to find out what we’ll be seeing next season,” wrote Style.com’s Nicole Phelps. ‘His point: The lush colors and Lurex that have been everywhere this week were inspired by the ode to the 1970s Jacobs delivered last time out.’

This Marc Jacobs inspiration many designers have taken on doesn’t really settle nicely in my eyes, but I do understand why one would look up to him. Jacobs has become an icon, and as a designer, he’s my first runway thumbs-up for the season.

During New York Fashion Week, Jacobs’ collection was much more restrictive and tight when compared to last season’s, and he said the loose and flowy styles of last year was exactly what he wanted to steer away from.

The majority of the clothes were in black, navy, white and burgundy, which could’ve posed a problem of lackluster color, but what balanced out the colors were Jacobs’ unique use of texture.

Polka dot overtones were dominant throughout, with many of the polka dots made from rubber and lace, two types of material not often found together. With the variety Jacobs offered and his fearless way of translating fashion into something wearable, his collection was definitely one of the best this season.

Another designer worthy of looking up to is the always relevant Anna Sui. Inspired by the Ballets Russes in London, Sui searched for the middle ground between the punk-rock Mod girl and the flirtatious Dandy girl. Needless to say, Sui captured the essence of it perfectly. Geometric art nouveau patterns graced the runway with pops of electric greens and oranges throughout. Tweeds and velvets were mix and matched into each look, which created beautiful textures and a different look to the eye. Notable accessories included her printed sheer tights and her animal hats.

Sui’s collection was young, flirtatious and very reminiscent of the rebellious Londoners we’ve all wanted to be in one point of our lives. This was one of Sui’s strongest presentations yet.

Besides Jacobs and Sui, other noteworthy designers include Alexander Wang, the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte, Jason Wu, and Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, all of whom — compared to Jacobs and Sui — are young in the industry. Though it makes sense Jacobs and Sui are sure wins for unforgettable collections, what needs to be praised about them is that rather than establishing themselves as just longtime veterans of fashion and regurgitating their own past, they are still in the frontier of creating new concepts and styles in fashion. And this is what we should truly appreciate and take away from this New York Fashion Week.

Vicki Ho is a senior public relations major. Her column appears every Thursday, and she can be reached at vho@syr.edu

Published on February 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm