United Bamboo

NEW YORK, February 4, 2007
By Laird Borrelli
Thuy Pham and Miho Aoki were thinking about architecture. An origamilike building technique—¿blocks,¿ as they called them, of fabric folded in on itself to create a square—turned up in various guises, from the velvet-ribbon trim of an A-line dress to the waistband finish of a poufy plaid skirt. While striking on a navy coat and effective on a plaid shirtdress, in other instances all these folds didn¿t seem to do much but add bulk to even the slenderest of runway-model frames.

For the ironic hipster with a window office at an ad agency there were, as always, desirable revamped classics, like a toggle coat, a three-piece shorts suit, and tight gloves of shimmery, cyborg gunmetal. Black sheer stockings layered over opaque white tights, on the other hand, were a hard sell. An ensemble featuring a leather riding jacket and plaid jodhpurs was satisfyingly tough but seemed incongruous among dresses that looked like Edwardian children¿s clothes. The last look, a sequined frock with a petal-tiered bell skirt, was described in the program notes as ¿geodesic¿—as in Buckminster Fuller¿s dome—but might more simply have been labeled an homage to Paul Poiret.