Tuleh

NEW YORK, September 10, 2006
By Laird Borrelli
At the close of his spring show, titled "American Spectators," Bryan Bradley took a bow in camouflage pants with a Stars and Stripes bandana tied on his head. The collection's back story, the designer said, was "Western entropy versus Eastern ascendancy." Accordingly, there was an Orientalist flavor throughout. Jessica Stam came out in a lacquer-black cracked-leather coat with an asymmetric button close, and the last look, a red coat, had standing seams that projected both Mandarin might and eighties-style structure.

For the most part, though, this was one of Bradley's safer collections, and it should be a buyer's dream with its well-made separates, smart blouses, perfect pants, and tailored jackets. A bit more of the designer's usual high-concept drama wouldn't have gone amiss, but it was impossible not to like the gorgeous print dresses and other wearable items he sent out. Still, one of the best pieces, a seemingly simple strapless dress with back train, was also the most inventive: It was made out of a limited-edition shower curtain featuring a Lisa Yuskavage nude produced in conjunction with an indomitable "Tuleh girl" by the name of Yvonne Force Villareal.

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