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Calvin Klein Collection

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NEW YORK, September 15, 2011
By Nicole Phelps
After a week of in-your-face colors and dizzying prints, Francisco Costa served up a palette cleanser for Spring. Of course, the Calvin Klein womenswear creative director has never really gone in for over-the-top anything, so the collection's subtle shades of nude, pale yellow, silver, and black weren't exactly a surprise. What was new was the softness and the femininity. Occasionally in the past, Costa's minimalism has erred on the conceptual side. He's been slowly moving away from the sculptural constructions that used to define his work, but he said good-bye to them for good this season.

In their place were slipdresses that by their very definition had a real sense of the body. Curving seams on the rear end highlighted its round form; pleats tapering to a point near the tailbone served the same purpose. Many of the silk frocks had sheer details at the bodice or were made of such gossamer-light stuff that the models' underpinnings were visible. Lingerie being such a big part of the CK empire, it felt—deliberately or not—like a smart synergy between brands: Put more celebrities in dresses with bras peeking through—Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, Ashley Greene, and Chloë Moretz were all sitting front-row—and sell more Calvin Klein Underwear.

The delicate look of the slips extended to the tailoring: Jackets had portrait necklines, and pants were cut so wide and cropped so high that from certain angles they looked like full skirts. For a long time now, Costa has practiced one half of the Calvin Klein brand DNA, minimalism; this season he nailed the sensuous part of the house code, too.

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