New York designer Yigal Azrouël spoke of the "uniform feeling" of this season's collection. He didn't mean it in the sense of sameness or similarity, though the silhouette shapes were mostly related, and the color palette held back. A look of utility is what he imagined, and he drove home the point with a repeated styling piece : a utility belt bearing a large pocket that dangled under jackets and coats. This uniform was a little bit sporty, a little bit dressy, and a little bit leather -all at once. And that, in a nutshell, was what he showed. Looks that were skewing formal with a tuxedo jacket on top were pulled to the street with slubby sweat shorts. The drawstring track pant was elevated into what you could call a waist-tied tuxedo trouser; it came with a shirt half tucked in, the stiffness bent by the slouch. One could argue that there were more realistic things to be seen on catwalks than sweat-suit gala garb and the like. It was very styled. But the message was only a message, though it was a good one : a uniform doesn't have to be a by-the-rule-book drag. Many of the looks Yigal Azrouël showed weren't real-world ready. But the individual pieces had his usual streetwise charm -the kind that keeps them selling on the floor. The collection was inspired by the work of Pablo Picasso, combining fresh, bold colors and graphic, ethnic patterns with modern nautical stripes. Washed cottons and denims were the most popular fabrics, creating an overall feeling of ease. This seaon's aesthetics is fresh and modern, easily transferable from day to night.
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