American fashion is making new waves

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Energy of young New York designers goes on display in London.

The dollar hit a record low against the British pound sterling last week — and at 2-to-1 is it surprising that London fashion is having a Yankee invasion?

After Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa celebrated the opening of a sleek store-within-a-store at Harvey Nichols last month, it is now the turn of Donna Karan to move her stylish shop from tony Bond Street to newly-cool Conduit Street, while Philip Lim was feted last week as a hot seller on the high-fashion Web site net-a-porter.com.

Significantly, the Victoria & Albert Museum has opened an exhibition devoted to the new New Yorkers who are making fashion waves. And this millennium class descended on London last week to see clothes that were on the runway only a few seasons ago inside the august museum's vitrines.

"Awesome!" said Jordan Betten, as he stood in front of his Lost Art designs intricately worked in leather; while Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra gazed at the display window of their minimalist dresses with hidden details that they create with their own hands in a Brooklyn studio.

"It is being recognized internationally — this is a very big honor," said Behnaz Sarafpour, whose designs, like those of the young designer duo behind Proenza Schouler, are defined as the new American spirit developed from sportswear roots.

"New York Fashion Now" (until Sept. 23) is the brainchild of the curator Sonnet Stanfill, who persuaded the ebullient Zac Posen, the elusive Miguel Adrover and the rising menswear star Thom Browne not only to take part in the exhibition, but to turn up for the opening.

"So many designer labels are founded out of New York," said Stanfill, explaining that she thought the V & A should be engaging with young talents.

"I think it is important to understand the fragility of young start ups, but 17 out of 20 are still in business," Stanfill said of her survey of New York's last decade.

Those who fell by the wayside when the show was already in motion include Cloak, whose Russian designer Alexander Plokhov, represented a romantic sobriety.

The exhibits are categorized as "avant-garde," "celebrity" or "sportswear chic." But is there any fashion vision that defines the young talents in a way that American fashion's clean modernism developed from the early 1980s with its big three: Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren?

Twenty five years later, the story is design diversity, from the colorful, upbeat menswear (including gloved underpants) of Duckie Brown (with the British designer Daniel Silver) to the retro elegance of Thom Browne, who is now injecting his talent into the classic Brooks Brothers brand. The punky, flamboyant outfits, including a skeleton costume, designed by Christian Joy for the young rocker Karen O of the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, are in contrast to the historically-inspired couture pieces from Maggie Norris.

Zac Posen's frothy blouse represents a youthful uptown glamour, while the hip Sean John tailoring of his backer Diddy, as Sean Combs is now known, also has a place in the exhibition. Posen paid tribute to Adrover, three of whose tailors he had taken on when the Miguel Adrover New York business was shuttered.

"New York is not a risk-taking place," Posen said, seeing the story of the exhibition as a triumph of small businesses against "venture capitalists."

With the exhibition and with an informative and well illustrated accompanying book "New York Fashion," published by the V & A, Stanfill has succeeded in presenting American fashion as intriguing, rather than bland.

"It is really good for people to see what New York is doing and that it can be new and not just commercial," said Thom Browne. "We all have to stay in business but we pursue different ideas."

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