Karen Walker
REVIEW
COMPLETE COLLECTION
NEW YORK, September 9, 2006
By Tim Blanks
After eight seasons in London, well-traveled New Zealander Karen Walker is ready for new frontiers. The UK capital's loss was New York's gain as she showed a spring collection that was long on the skewed charm that's her signature. She claimed inspiration from Land Girls (the women who worked the farms in England while their menfolk were away at the front during World War II) and there were discernible echoes of the forties in the floral prints, puff sleeves and baggy pants. But Walker's real focus, as always, was on the hybrid of female and male. It's that fashion clich¿ about the woman who slips into her boyfriend's clothes in the morning, except in Walker's capable hands, it feels fresh and slightly subversive.In this collection, for instance, floral bloomers were worn with a pinstriped waistcoat, an organza dress was topped by a net T-shirt, and neon nylon parkas added a mod boy element. The look is sexy with a coolly ambiguous twist, and it's easy to see why Walker has galvanized a stellar clientele of young Hollywoodites. If the show occasionally played like Karen's Greatest Bits for people who know about her, it was a smart way to introduce her work to those who don't.
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Spring 2007 Ready-to-Wear
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A.F. Vandevorst ADAM Akris Alberta Ferretti Alessandro Dell'Acqua Alexander McQueen Alexandre Herchcovitch Alice Roi Andrew Gn Anna Molinari Anna Sui Ann Demeulemeester Antonio Berardi Aquascutum -
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Badgley Mischka Balenciaga Balmain Basso & Brooke Behnaz Sarafpour Belstaff Biba Bill Blass Blumarine Bottega Veneta Burberry Prorsum -
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Danielle Scutt Derek Lam Diane von Furstenberg DKNY Donna Karan Doo.Ri Dries Van Noten Dsquared² -
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Elie Saab Emanuel Ungaro Emilio Pucci Emporio Armani Erdem Erin Fetherston Etro -
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Fendi -
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Gareth Pugh Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Gucci -
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Hamish Morrow Hermès -
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J. Mendel Jasmine Di Milo Jason Wu Jean Paul Gaultier Jenni Kayne Jeremy Laing Jill Stuart Jil Sander John Galliano Jonathan Saunders Josh Goot Jovovich-Hawk Junya Watanabe -
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Kai Kühne Karen Walker Karl Lagerfeld -
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L.A.M.B. Lanvin La Perla Lela Rose Loewe Louis Vuitton Luca Luca Luella Luisa Beccaria -
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Narciso Rodriguez Nathan Jenden Nicolas Andreas Taralis Noir -
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Paul Smith Peter Jensen Peter Som Phi Pollini Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Rag & Bone Ralph Lauren Richard Chai Love Richard Nicoll Rick Owens Roberto Cavalli Rodarte Roksanda Ilincic Ruffian -
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Sabyasachi Salvatore Ferragamo Sari Gueron Sinha-Stanic Sonia Rykiel Sophia Kokosalaki Stærk Stella McCartney Stephen Burrows -
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Tao Temperley London Thakoon Threeasfour Todd Lynn Toni Maticevski Topshop Unique Tory Burch Trovata TSE Tuleh -
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Undercover United Bamboo -
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Valentino Vena Cava Vera Wang Veronique Branquinho Versace Viktor & Rolf Vivienne Westwood VPL -
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Y & Kei Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
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