NEW YORK, January 18, 2008 – Having conquered Gotham, Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are out to win the world. The designing duo are taking their first ever pre-fall collection on the road to Paris to show during the haute couture week there. (Perhaps that explains the profusion of Parisian gray we saw when we previewed the clothes in New York.) Subtle deconstruction was the main conceit: Bustier dresses featured exposed boning that was both functional and decorative, while some of the coats had exposed seams. More ladylike was a textured jersey coat with three-quarter sleeves. There were also sharp shrunken jackets for downtown gallery girls, as well as a pair of prints, one inspired by rusting metal and the other by X-rays. These are clothes that ought to travel well.

– Laird Borrelli-Persson