Thakoon

NEW YORK, February 4, 2008
By Laird Borrelli-Persson
In light of Thakoon Panichgul's stated aim, to pit elegance against punk deconstruction, the show's opening track added a nice dose of irony to the proceedings: LCD Soundsystem's catchy-snide first hit, "Losing My Edge" ("I'm losing my edge/To better-looking people with better ideas and more talent/And they're actually really, really nice").

"I want to apply aggressive elements on soft, refined silhouettes," Panichgul said. The aggro was expressed with tailored felt Mao jackets, a graffiti print, zipper-tooth trimmings, and a "breakaway dress" composed of pieces of fuchsia wool shaped like shards of broken glass floating on a sheer underlay. But Panichgul would clearly rather make love than war. The show's standouts were definitely on the tender side: quilted floral coats and languorous thirties-style dresses that recalled the English-romantic costumes of Atonement.

Although there were some rough patches (the pattern-mixing seemed forced, and there were some gimmicky flourishes), overall this was a pretty effort. Fall was like a good girl who really wishes she could go bad and look messed up for a change, but just doesn't have it in her to look anything but nice.