Front Row Seats

WE ATTEND THE KATYA LEONOVICH FASHION SHOW

This past weekend we went to Lincoln Center to see Katya Leonovich's runway show. We got there a little early so we could enjoy the balmy weather and check out the crowd.  The variety was mind-boggling! (Just click on the photos to enlarge and/or activate the slide show.)

Jean had the added treat of getting to hang out with Christene Barberich, Editor in Chief of Refinery 29 and one of our fellow Phillip Lim / Target background models, when they ended up in the same subway car and got seats together.  Christene paired her vintage animal print skirt with an animal print bag, amazing sunglasses and a Jason Wu top.

So casual, and so perfect at the same time!

We've forgiven ourselves for our less than perfect lighting.  We had to show you this lady.  She's fab all over, down to her two-toned hair.

This woman told us she found a custom tulle skirt maker on Etsy.

We admired this woman's great look.  Sharp, angular, sophisticated, understated.

While we were on our way to the Mercedes Benz lounge, we met Eli, an aspiring model. Standing at 5'10" before donning those platform stiletto boots, she's hard to miss.

You can see where Eli gets her good looks! No, that's not her sister. That's her mom!

Here's the rear-view of Eli's amazing footwear.

During Fashion Week, even the babies sport their greatest accessories when they go to Lincoln Center!  How do you beat a Missoni baby carriage?!

Once we got inside The Studio, we were thrilled to find out we were sitting in the front row!

And in case you didn't notice, those of us in the first row got a gorgeous miniature boxed chocolate!  Katya's name was on the ribbon. Inside was a tiny chocolate mouse with - wait for it - a chocolate mousse filling.  Nice touch!

Again, we have to forgive ourselves for the lighting (and our less than fabulous camera and shutter skills).  We just had to show you this fellow attendee's marvelous jacket.   (Imagine how great it would look in better light.)  Always a treat to see men who are not afraid of color.

And now for the show!  Katya's Spring Summer 2014 line included a lot of pastel colors, in leather and chiffon. We liked the detailing on this lavendar leather dress.  In fact, we liked the detailing on everything!

Having front row seats was definitely a plus since we didn't have to jockey for position to get a good shot.  Two nights later, we saw the third dress from the right - the purple one - again.  This time it was on the designer herself, arriving at the same party for MAO PR as we were. Katya pointed out that wearing one's own work was one of the advantages of being a clothing designer.

This reddish-fuscia dress was one of the few non-pastel items. Although Katya herself is Russian, she has her clothes manufactured in Italy, where she also did some of her studies.  All the materials were gorgeous.  We wanted to reach out and touch so many of them!

The models glided up and down the runway. Even though they were wearing stilettos, you could not hear their footsteps. How did they do that?

After the show, in the atrium, another entirely different, informal show unfolded before our eyes.  We met Andre, a jewelry designer.  Little did we know we'd run into him again the very next day at Yotel.

Here's a close-up of one of his colorful creations, combining textiles and metals.

Artist Marco Santaniello was our fashion week Zelig. Everywhere we went, he was there. That afternoon, he was wearing one of Katya's metallic-painted buttery leather jackets from a prior season.  (Special effects courtesy of Jean's new iPhone.  Isn't technology a blast?  Now if we only knew how to repeat this!)

How fabulous is this vinyl headgear? And the label states the wearer's name: Early Ross.

Loved Lisa Xavier's boots!

Who ARE these unmasked men???  Note the funnel fronts on their  shirt collars.

How fab was this fellow's black and white ensemble?

And check out the shoes on Robert Richards.

See what we mean about shorts making inroads? Is this style a response to global warming?

This gent sports the ultimate mohawk.

A bit of men's foot candy...

A bit of ladies' foot candy...

A little bit o' bubbly before heading home...

And, back outside on the plaza, a little scene stealer to end with.

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For the curious, Valerie's surgical boot decorated with five yards of wide velvet ribbon cut, knotted and fabric glued; shoe decorated with one yard of medium ribbon cut and fabric-glued.