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At Vera Wang, an Artist's Spirit as Muse

Vera Wang's runway backdrop featured two dramatic slabs of a faceted mirror sculpture in homage to the whimsical art of Niki de Sainte Phalle, the free-spirited woman whose life and work as a sculptor, painter and architect was the muse of Wang's Spring 2009 collection, which she showed in Bryant Park on Thursday, Sept. 11.

Taking de Sainte Phalle's sense of freedom and playfulness as her starting point, Wang created a joyful collection of soft, romantic looks that she contrasted with heavy embellishment directly sewn on, or accessorized with chunky, colorful "motorcycle" chains in "Magic Kingdom colors," as Wang described them post-show.

As per usual with a Wang collection, it was all about juxtaposition: Sheer with opaque, body-conscious mixed with the floating volume of a transparent tunic, slices of color peeking out from under a neutral-toned top layer, adorned and unadorned, soft or architectural.

Wang is at her best when there is a tension between restraint and all-out decoration, which was best exemplified by a few dresses where she veiled the beaded embellishment with a layer of organza. It gave the sense of discovering a secret, like opening a book of rare prints protected with vellum.

There has been much talk about the prevalence of color on the Spring 2009 runways this season, with some designers creating palettes that look like they had been conceived in a jelly bean factory. But none so far have been as quietly and carefully rendered as the colors in Vera Wang's Spring collection, who approached color this season with the deftness of a painter. Blush, black and navy formed the foundations for dabs of orange, marigold, violet and celadon.

Wang's customers will find much to love, whether its a delicately rendered silk organza dress, composed like a watercolor painting of layers of transparent fabric or whether they're simply in the market for a black cocktail dress that offers something in the way of innovation - here, there were several, unembellished but draped with sophistication.

Wang, who recently lost her father and mother within the space of two years, was encouraged by the optimism and individuality she found in Niki de Sainte Phalle's life and work.

"I really just needed to shed some of that heaviness and go to another place," said Wang after the show.

And in de Sainte Phalle, she found a representation of the kind of woman she had in mind to wear her clothes.

"She was one of those women who love art and that kind of artsy life," she said. "And she never lost her sense of freedom as an artist and as a woman."

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