Elise Øverland

NEW YORK, September 13, 2009
By Meenal Mistry
"I used to dress musicians who really move in the clothes," Elise Øverland explained backstage before her Spring show. "A stagnant presentation didn't make sense." So, after just two seasons of more informal showings, Øverland delved headlong into a runway debut. It certainly made it easy for onlookers to get an orderly inventory of her fashion-loving front-row fans like Lynn Collins, Becka Diamond, Lauren Santo Domingo, and Yvonne Force Villareal.

There were no Steven Tyler high kicks, but it speaks to Øverland's sure hand with her materials—particularly her signature leathers—that the overwhelmingly body-defining clothes moved and fit with such ease. The designer aimed to expand her go-to palette of black and bone with "color that doesn't seem like color." Meeting this koanlike criterion were flesh tones. They ranged from the quiet calm of a gorgeous rose-nude perforated lambskin dress—high-necked but back-baring—to the glam attitude of a peachy metallic leather blazer and silk trousers.

Øverland pushed out even further with the odd shot of red in a strapless dress set with nude panels, a subtler take on her Mexican wrestling mask inspiration. But of course, despite lighter moments like a cream spotted crepe jumpsuit or a white leather jacket and dress, there was still lots of black, seen not only in leather but also in glazed organza with sequins. That's likely not a problem for Øverland's girl. At any rate, her strong and sexy collection was easily worthy of the runway, even if it didn't exactly scream spring.

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