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Isaac Mizrahi Puts the Show in Fashion

After a long hiatus, Isaac Mizrahi was back in the tents at Bryant Park, the glitziest venue in New York during fashion week, for his Spring 2010 show on Thursday, Sept. 17. And put on a show he did, creating a mini-movie set featuring a staircase, a wind machine, a live jazz band and the most stunning effect of all, an actual spring shower that rained a curtain of water in the middle of the runway.

The clothes – well, they were pretty spectacular as well. Titling his show “Astaire Case or Obstacle Course,” it was a Fred Astaire-in-to-the-country-club romp with soft, swirling dresses composed of cascading silk, tuxedo-inspired boleros and sleeveless dresses and inventive jackets with triple lapels standing on end or with deliberately ripped off sleeves, sassy sixties-inspired sequined shifts and Jazz Age multicolored beaded fringe flapper dresses.

And in a week largely devoid of pants – most designers in New York focused their efforts on dresses and, occasionally, shorts - Mizrahi showed a fair number of pants, albeit very glamorous ones. Exaggerated Katherine Hepburn trousers, clownish pantaloons in opalescent lurex and strapless jumpsuits with fitted bodices were among the offerings.

All in all, the effect was a Technicolor free-for-all. Mizrahi said he was particularly inspired by Fred Astaire’s 1950s films.

“I love the way he handles color,” he said backstage post-show.

To that end, the color palette featured lilac, peach, pink, yellow, khaki and black and white – nothing that would be out of place in a preppy country club. Accessories included two-tone spectator pumps with cut-outs and gold sculptured spike heels, square wooden briefcases, wooden boater hats and a prosthetic arm-looking Lucite “cuff” that covered most of the forearm and bicep.

The elaborate runway, said Mizrahi, made sense for him to do at the moment. “We’ve been working on it for a while, refining it.” It was, after all, an obstacle course – models had to navigate stairs and rain – with the help of a black jumpsuit-clad tech guy guiding them through the shower with an umbrella.

“Any model can look beautiful just standing there at the end of the runway,” said Mizrahi, “but let’s see her look beautiful walking up and down stairs!”

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