Zero Maria Cornejo

NEW YORK, February 7, 2007
By Laird Borrelli
¿Sex is overexposed," Maria Cornejo said. "I want to express sensuality in a subtle way."

She actually approached her goal in two ways. The first was through what were, for her, surprisingly delicate, feminine touches: a grosgrain-ribbon cascade that rippled down the front of an evening gown, or a slip layered under a gauzy dress. The second, via androgyny—though in this case it was less about girls looking like boys than about how they look in their boyfriend's clothes, and the interesting proportion play that ensues.

Perhaps because Cornejo's at her best when she's creating strong new geometries and silhouettes, she seemed more comfortable with the second approach. Working partly with high-tech fabrics—one a taffeta, the other a metal material that takes the shape of the wearer's body—she crafted cocoons, straight-arrow shifts, and pantsuits. Standouts included an astrakhan "cuddle" coat with a satisfying heft; a softly sacked back; and big, buttery leather caplets with zippers that ran from the cuff to the shoulder. Another was a draped tartan dress to wear with riding boots on a drive upstate to Dia:Beacon. An art gallery is exactly the sort of place you'd want to wear one of these artful experiments in shape.