by Charles Beckwith
The Caroline Hedaya Spring 2009 Preview at the Red Market Salon on Gansevoort Street was well attended by a friendly fashion-forward crowd.
Designers Caroline Hedaya and Donna Baxter were well dressed themselves, and presented an interesting collection.
The collection was a bit of a paradox: no frills simple elegant designs… with some frills for fun. My favorite look was a beautifully cut floor-length mother of pearl gown with a tea party bow in the back.
Other standouts were a red cocktail dress with a cascade of pleats coming off the breast, a sleek shimmering dark, almost squid ink-colored, navy blue pant and spaghetti top set, a cocktail dress of the same material, a navy and white polka dot dress, and a smart dark one piece bathing suit.
Some looks felt incongruous in the collection, however. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the plaid pieces in relation to the more serious modern-looking outfits.
Particularly, a plaid dress with a pleat cascade down the rump seemed an unfortunate overextension of the decoration used on the front of other more refined-looking pieces.
At least they were trying new things though, and daring to explore is what is most important.
Overall I liked the show, and thought the designers made an impressive creative showing.
Here is a video recording of the last few seconds of the live presentation: