From Two Ends of The Same Spectrum: Lacoste and Dion Lee

Why did it occur to no one last season when Stan Smith became the unofficial transportation sponsor of New York Fashion Week that a 70s redux would ultimately follow? When I sat down for Lacoste’s fall runway show on Saturday morning, I thought that the most seamless incorporation of fashion’s new darling decade was prime for resuscitation for a house with roots so profoundly planted in the 70s, just north of the tennis sneakers that embodied its athletic feats.

Felipe Oliviera Baptista had the same idea — the collection was brimming with monogrammed sportswear, boasting slogans that read “Rene did it first” behind zip up sweaters and terry cloth sweatbands, charmingly worn across the head in several looks that were most conspiciously reminiscent of Ben Stiller’s Wes Anderson character from The Royal Tenenbaums. But independent of the sportswear were some good recreation pieces, like warm camel coats and capes with non-functioning sleeves.

Not far away, Dion Lee dressed another woman — her pants were tight, puffer coat satin and the uneven hems on the appropriately form-fitting dresses indicated she could have been a pupil of the bygone Posh Spice. I considered how many women could show up at the Grammys in one of the conceptions, feeling powerful and charged. They featured tasteful cut outs and the kind of dimension that kept them smart. I also thought about how wearing these clothes might make another woman feel — as we move further away from the male gaze, so to speak, I’m beginning to think that through the sea of big pants and wide turtlenecks, the underlying feminism of fashion lies precisely where the necklines are low, dress straps spaghetti and slip dresses tight.

Images via Style.com