Kevork Kiledjian Fall 2012 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

Kevork Kiledjian

NEW YORK, February 12, 2012

By Maya Singer

There's a reason Helmut Newton never gets old as a point of reference for womenswear designers: The photographer was simply nonpareil at capturing the power of female sexuality, the mastery in feeling desire, and also knowing one is desired. To put Newton's trick in academic terms, his women are both subjects and objects, and for that reason, his work makes for very good source material for a designer like Kevork Kiledjian. Three seasons out, Kiledjian has developed an idiomatic sexiness; with this collection, it seems he's finally caught on to the fact that the women he's designing for want to feel in powerful in their sexuality, rather than beholden to it.

Kiledjian's starting point was a Newton portrait of Charlotte Rampling gazing languorously, yet hard-eyed, into the camera. There were echoes of the photo in the collection's pops of red, and especially in his excellent shadowy red furs; more generally, Newton hovered over the runway in the harnessing motif used in several looks. As is usual in Kiledjian's collections, the clothes were formfitting; this season, he went for a long, narrow silhouette, enunciated by tight leggings that extended over the ankle.

This time out, though, he was atypically circumspect, showing a minimum of skin. The silhouette got same-y after a while, and the silver-ball embellishment was overused, but the designer had a strong theme going with his architectural cutaways, and the jacquards and tonal color-blocking added a nice variety of color and texture. Where the collection really shone was in its outerwear: Alongside the furs, Kiledjian turned out some truly excellent motorcycle jackets, in particular the versions in cherry red and quilted black leather. All in all, a big step forward.

See all from Kevork Kiledjian › Timeline

A.F. Vandevorst	A.L.C.	A.P.C.
Acne	A Détacher	Akris
Alberta Ferretti	Albino	Alexander McQueen
Alexander Wang	Alexandre Herchcovitch	Alexis Mabille
Alice + Olivia	Altuzarra	Andrew Gn
Anna Sui	Ann Demeulemeester	Anne Valérie Hash
Ann-Sofie Back Atelje	Anthony Vaccarello	Antonio Berardi
Antonio Marras	Aquascutum	Aquilano.Rimondi
Araks	Azzaro

Badgley Mischka	Balenciaga	Bally
Balmain	Banana Republic	Band of Outsiders
Barbara Bui	Barbara Casasola	Barbara Tfank
Basso & Brooke	BCBG Max Azria	Bebe
Behnaz Sarafpour	Belstaff	Betsey Johnson
Bibhu Mohapatra	Bill Blass	Billy Reid
BLK DNM	Blumarine	Bottega Veneta
Bouchra Jarrar	Brood	Burberry Prorsum

Cacharel	Calla	Calvin Klein Collection
Camilla and Marc	Carlos Miele	Carolina Herrera
Carven	Catherine Malandrino	Cédric Charlier
Celine	Central Saint Martins	Chado Ralph Rucci
Chadwick Bell	Chalayan	Chanel
Charlotte Ronson	Chloé	Chris Benz
Christian Cota	Christian Dior	Christian Siriano
Christophe Lemaire	Christopher Kane	Christopher Raeburn
Clements Ribeiro	Collette Dinnigan	Comme des Garçons
Commuun	Costello Tagliapietra	Costume National
Creatures of Comfort	Creatures of the Wind	Cushnie et Ochs
Custo Barcelona	Cynthia Rowley

Daks	Damir Doma	Danielle Scutt
Daryl K	David Koma	Dean Quinn
Dennis Basso	Derek Lam	Diane von Furstenberg
Diesel Black Gold	Dion Lee	Dirk Bikkembergs
DKNY	Dolce & Gabbana	Donna Karan
Doo.Ri	Douglas Hannant	Dries Van Noten
Dsquared²	Duro Olowu

Edun	Elie Saab	Elie Tahari
Elizabeth and James	Emilia Wickstead	Emilio de la Morena
Emilio Pucci	Emporio Armani	Erdem
Erin Fetherston	Etro