At NY Fashion Week, sea of fashionable black on runways and in front rows

At NY Fashion Week, sea of fashionable black

NEW YORK — Don’t let anyone tell you there’s a new black.

Black — the original — was all over the runways at New York Fashion Week on Friday, and all over the audience, too: Three out of four editors in the front rows wore black for the second day of previews of fall styles.

Friday’s shows began with a designer-packed finale for “Project Runway” and was set to end with a celebrity-studded charity catwalk show for the Haiti relief effort, hosted by Naomi Campbell. The 39-year-old, who rarely walks the runway nowadays, will be one of the models.

JASON WU

Jason Wu’s ladylike, inventive collection looked like a Jason Wu collection. That’s a huge step for the 27-year-old designer whose name is almost always linked to first lady Michelle Obama’s wardrobe.

There was plenty for Mrs. Obama to choose from on the runway — a sleeveless brown sheath splattered with gold leaf would look fantastic — but Wu needed to develop beyond a single famous client if he was going to have a long-lasting career.

This season, Wu showed a delicate touch, especially with feathers and tulle, making several layers seem light and airy. The only looks that weighed down the collection were the cocktail dresses with such big skirts, one was left wondering if there were hoops underneath.

Wu said he drew inspiration from the late Irving Penn, both the photographer’s personal style as well as his work. There also was a nod to the layered look that has emerged in the early part of Fashion Week, but Wu’s spin was to wrap a whisper-weight feather dress in tulle.

PROJECT RUNWAY

The finale of “Project Runway” had 10 designers, so many that even its surprise guest judge had trouble keeping track.

“I remember pieces,” country singer Faith Hill said after the show, admitting that she hadn’t yet learned the contestants’ names.

To prevent the audience from leaking the identities of the show’s final three contestants, “Runway’s” remaining 10 designers all offered collections, turning a normally refined runway into a whirlwind of faces, names and genres. Even with the larger number of lines, many themes repeated in the designers’ pieces: military, industrial colors, sportswear, the 1940s and conversely, back-to-the-future looks.

Fan favorites like Mila Hermanovski and Anthony Williams presented cohesive, wearable lines. By far the most interesting, though least wearable, were Amy Sarabi’s pleats-and-prints separates.

“I’ve never seen a season of ‘Project Runway’ that has had such a distinctive point of view among a group of designers,” said show mentor Tim Gunn. “Any of the 10 could rise to the top, to be honest.”

CYNTHIA STEFFE

There was a bounce to the step of the schoolgirl-styled models on the Cynthia Steffe runway, which featured a mix of sweet-but-sassy miniskirts balancing a super-short hemline with a full shape and conservative fabrics. They were paired with crisp, white button-down shirts, slim-fitting turtlenecks and floral chiffon blouses.

Knit knee socks were pulled up like thigh-high stockings and worn with either high-heel Mary Janes or lace-up, wedge-heel sneakers.

The “uniforms” were completed with wood duffel coats with oversized hoods, chunky cardigans or, for those who like the rebel look, tight, cropped leather jackets.

Designer Shaun Kearney, inspired by London’s Sloane Street crowd, moved fairly seamlessly between playful, chic and sometimes dapper — especially with some old-school, cropped military jackets with a double-breasted front.

RALPH RUCCI

Ralph Rucci uses words like “ripped,” ‘’scarred,” ‘’shredded” and “bleached” to describe his creations. But make no mistake: These clothes are the height of luxury.

And so “ripped” can mean luscious cashmere, torn into pieces and then sewn onto silk tulle to create a sleek suit that is somehow both edgy and mature.

The models at Chado Ralph Rucci’s Soho studio wore spidery harnesses on their hands, and often shiny, thigh-high boots. The palette was dark — black, charcoal gray, navy — but there was also taupe, ecru and the occasional flash of bright pink, as in a shock of pink sequins peeking out the bottom of a matte black siren gown.

And there were feathers, too, or rather “trapped feathers,” as the designer describes them: Ostrich feathers imprisoned inside layers of silk and tulle.

One could see why Rucci is the only American to have been invited to show Haute Couture under his own name in Paris, where such things are tightly regulated. Celebrities in the crowd included Martha Stewart — who snapped her own photos — and Whoopi Goldberg, at her first fashion show.

YIGAL AZROUEL

If fashion is art, Yigal Azrouel is a mixed-media artist. His fall preview threw in some leather, some jersey, some Fair Isle knits, some crystals.

Each outfit made a visual statement, but its unclear whether Azrouel, who showed both men’s and women’s clothes, always knew what he wanted to say.

There was a group of sexy banker styles — a fitted dress with leather trim at the bustline and a skinny-pant women’s suit, both in gray pinstripe — that were unexpected but simultaneously chic and wearable. Several styles in a bright rouge red also were standouts, and many silhouettes had a slight asymmetrical skew to them that had the editors, stylists and retailers taking a second look for all the right reasons.

However, the experiment with weathered resin leather paired with tweed or boiled wool on outerwear had uneven results: great on a wrap coat, weird on a tweed jacket. And the mens’ combinations of the cozy, outdoorsy Fair Isle knits and tough, urban leather were for potential costumes for a romantic-comedy movie — you know, the one where the city slicker moves to the country to get the girl?

ERIN WASSON

The evolution of model Erin Wasson’s burgeoning career as a fashion designer continues.

Wasson’s models, backed by Brooklyn rockers, stalked down the runway Thursday night in a series of looks that hit the right tone of easy sophistication. Winter white, grey and black dominated the color palette. Black turtlenecks, the must-have item from several collections so far, turned up here as well.

There was a downtown, Brooklynesque feel to much of the collection with its loose, easy shapes such as a long, cream velvet dress covered with a perforated black leather cape that looked artfully moth-eaten, and a loose, cream thermal blazer worn over an olive and cream marble silk tunic.

Some pieces like the thermal pant were strictly for models and model lookalikes. It’s doubtful most women really desire or can wear legging type pants with sagging bottoms. But Wasson knows her woman well. Sagging bottoms mean little when you’ve got legs for days.

Associated Press writers Jocelyn Noveck and Amanda Kwan and contributor Karyn D. Collins contributed to this report.