Reem Acra's Authoritative Sauce
There's a quietly classy designer from Lebanon who lives in New York called Reem Acra who really does not get the attention she deserves. Her latest show in New York, presented Monday, Feb. 13, was not exactly chock a block with critics and editors, but it should have been.
Acra is not the most revolutionary designer but she's an undoubtedly a very skilled one. Her take on cool, embellished modernism was a quiet lesson in how to create plausibly chic clothes that will manage to look great in lots of different contexts, culture and communities.
Acra dedicated the collection to "feminine power," and the most authoritative elements in the show, presented in The Stage, one of several show spaces inside the custom-made show space in Lincoln Center, the nerve center of New York Fashion Week, were the openers. That's because Acra's "second-skin" opening quintet of sheath dresses and bolero jackets - all made in leather - had such sleek polish. Where so many designers employ leather as an obvious rock-n-roll racy element, Acra, using trapunto stitching, smart funnel neck and subtle embroidery, coaxed a polished presence out of the fabric.
Plus, this designer understands a woman's body, so her excellent metallic trim tweed jackets, gold pinwheel skirts and Gustav Klimt-like golden embroidered mini jackets all impressed. They gave a sexy gravitas to a fine casting models, as they would to a polite lady in Maryland or Moscow, another example the quality of this show, admirably styled by Andrew Richardson.
Some of her clunkier sweaters did jar on the eye, as the odd Mondrian style graphic low-waist dress felt derivative. Still, Acra ended with real punch. Her geometric silver beaded chess piece silhouette mini dresses looked agreeably saucy, and her finale of semi-sheer, metallic chiffon columns and super vixen silk gowns were great red carpet raw material. No wonder the audience gave her a rousing applause at her bow. Not revolutionary maybe, but very definitely right on. And, worthy of a lot more attention.
