The Establishment - CALVIN KLEIN:
Tom Ford protégé (he worked under Tom designing for Gucci in Milan), Francisco Costa's fourth runway show for the house of Calvin Klein was perhaps his most successful and well received thus far, and his minimalist approach for this minimalist label seems to have come at a perfect time. While I'm not saying I am necessarily ready for minimalism as it was presented in the 90's (you know: dour, dark, and almost suffocating and joyless), a "kinder, gentler" minimalism, marked by a paring gown, does seem to be a viable option to all the clutter, excess, and over the top 'maximalism' which seems to be the order of the day on most other runways. I almost get the feeling we've gone about as far as we can go with this and the next obvious progression is a stripping down. (Can't wait to see what Miuccia proposes in Milan, but that's another story.)

The collection was all about "the mix of natural textures and easy shapes", and though some of Mr. Costa's long khaki jersey pieces seemed unflattering and awkward, even for his tall, skinny and young mannequins, the easy knee length t shirt shapes, roomy cropped linen trousers or slim skirts in neutral shades worn with beautifully crafted and tailored pale lambskin or transparent snakeskin coats (or sporty jackets fashioned from transparent stingray) looked very timely, nonchalant, and unforced. Admittedly inspired by both the work of Constantin Brancusi for his linear shapes, as much as a recent trip out west (Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park), where hues derived from nature served as creative fuel, he was inspired to add some welcome organic color (blues, greens, reds) to the traditionally colorless and neutral palette favored by minimalists (and long considered to be signatures of Calvin Klein). And in a season of prints and patterns, Mr. Costa did what others like him do- he created surface interest and broke up the solids through color blocking- the best examples of which comprised his evening finale.

Working with a combination of jersey and silk, he designed a group of long, fluid evening gowns in color combinations that brought to mind Western sunsets and rich landscapes.