Cheryl Shops

Where & When: Thursday, September 17th at 3 p.m., the Promenade, Bryant Park
Runway Recap: There is much ado made over the balance between art and commerce that modern designers grapple with. If a collection is too conceptual and artistic, it's often unwearable, and thus women won't buy it; if it's too commercial, fashion insiders turn up their nose at it for being unimaginative, and there's also the chance that, especially if it's something we've seen before, women won't buy it. That said, I don't think anyone will be mistaking Joaquin Trias for a commercial designer. The very architectural designs hovered around the hips like inverted cones; skirts, pants, shorts and dresses were incredibly structured and, at times, stiff. While there's something to be said for picking a silhouette and sticking with it--as well as for the purity of one's artistic vision--a designer should take into consideration the fact that women actually have to wear the clothes being presented, and given the difficulty the models seemed to have walking in the super-fitted pencil skirts (as well as the fact that very few women can stand to add extra bulk at the hips), they did not make a strong case for wearability. It may be a dirty word, but without the commercial aspect of fashion, there can be no artistic one.
Standout Look: This dress reminded me of the Guggenheim Museum uptown and was one of the more flattering iterations of the designer's concept. I can almost see Lady Gaga wearing it in a few years, if she decides to enter a more minimal period.
Bonus Points: The models deserve extra props for walking in both restrictively tight inverted pencil skirts and what appeared to be ill-fitting 5-inch d'Orsay stilettos.
Where to Buy: Email international@joaquintrias.com for information.