February 16th: When I walked into the Andrew Kreps Gallery, it was a rather small and abnormally shaped space with a large white wall with no entry way, so I was unsure what to expect of the Joseph Altuzarra Fall/Winter 2009 debut presentation.  The show started, and behold!  The models emerged out of a mysterious door disguised within the white walls and sauntered briskly down the runway.

It seemed that at the beginning of the show the entire audience was already furiously jotting down notes with their illegible handwriting.  The show opened with a few pieces of lovely outerwear with some kind of bizarre fur fringes that were distracting.  But, following them were beautiful, form-fitting dresses using stretch matte jersey that were sophisticated sexy.

As the theme of this season has veered back to snug-fitting, body-shaping silhouettes (read: over-sized, pregger tunics are done!), the suiting styles were also feminine and slimming, yet strong and powerful.  Then there were a few dresses using a metallic silver silk lamé for more rebellious look with knee-high boots, yet paired with the right accessories would make for an elegant cock-tail dress for a separate occasion.

As we exited, we learned that Altuzarra was still doing 2 or 3 additional shows consecutively – because of the small space, he had his audience come in shifts rather than editing down his guest list.  That kind of hard work and dedication is much appreciated in this cut-throat industry, especially in these turbulent times for designers and retailers everywhere.

Joseph Altuzarra will also be featured in a double-page story in the March issue of ELLE Magazine.  He is definitely one to keep track of, so we will certainly be keeping an eye out for him!

Yours,
Von

Photos courtesy of Style.com