Friday last, a few dozen of us were treated to a very fabulous to do, the highlight of which was a fashion presentation, entitled The Trend Report: Spring 2012 delivered, in store, by that great prognosticator of specialty retail, Mr. Ken Downing – Neiman Marcus’ Senior Vice-President and Fashion Director.

With nearly fifty looks, modeled by a half-dozen of the city’s loveliest mannequins, the “Fashion Whisperer” gave us the what-what about the themes that dominated the runways – at least those ones worth repeating (with which we’ll want to stock our closets).

What makes Downing worth paying attention to is that he’s so pressed-up into the latest themes, trends, and leitmotifs wafting down the runways of New York, Milan, Paris, and London; that, to paraphrase that great ad campaign from the ‘70s – “He’s soaking in it, Madge.”  He’s the modern embodiment of such fashion-retailing visionaries as Kal Ruttenstein and Dawn Mello, and the successor of the revered Joan Kaner.  It was he who advised Tory Burch that the addition of bright colors to her collection would endear it more to consumers, preaching that folks just like pink.  (Said Burch, “…he was right.”)

As such, “Pink” (the first trend) must’ve been a delight for him to inform us.  Par example, that marvelous pink known as “shocking pink” (you know, the one named after the logo for the perfume Shocking, made for Surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli in the ‘30s, who had herself been inspired by the intense pink hue of the larger-than-17cts Ram’s Head Diamond that one of her biggest clients obtained from Cartier?).  Well, it was used for the lettering at the foot of the runway, for the carpet that made-up the runway, and quite a bit of the décor.  And don't forget that some sixty years ago, no less a fashionista that Diana Vreeland declared, "I adore that pink... it's the navy blue of India."

“Yellow as a Neutral” was the next trend..  I’ve never been a fan of yellow, but that’s because it always makes me look what Karen Walker might call “a little Heppy-C” – but this hue is here, it’s now, and it says “Pow!”  I could go further into the yellow, but those pictures do all the talking for me (and I’m lazy).

Come back next time, when I conclude this with Downing’s final quartet of springtime trends.  In the meantime, enjoy this video of his summary of trends from New York Fashion Week.

The Trend Report: Spring 2012
Ken Downing – SVP/Fashion Director, Neiman Marcus
Friday, April 13th

Get into it!