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The stores need some sort of pick-me-up. Both designer clothing and the so-called bridge, or cheaper, lines have seen shaky times recently. Many American department stores have been quietly cutting back on the space allocated to their designer boutiques. In a significant move last December, the house of Anne Klein released Richard Tyler, a sharp tailor known for his Hollywood connections, in favor of Patrick Robinson, only 28, who had masterminded Armani's Collezioni line. Robinson's first effort, put together hastily after his appointment, was both safe and dull, but his attitude has to have retailers cheering. "The point," he says, "is to create excitement in the stores, not the runways."
The industry's optimistic reaction seems justified. Take coats, for instance. They were the strongest single element in the shows held in the three major fashion capitals-not innovative, but fastidiously cut and elegant. They even looked warm. Many of the best were redingotes, originally an 18th century man's mantle, with a fitted waist and full skirt. Hermes, which went far beyond its traditional horse-culture clothes, had some midnight-blue beauties. For the truly romantic, Yohji Yamamoto continued his exploration of Victorian dress with very full crinoline coats. All around the designer map, from Dior to Ralph Lauren, the alternative to the redingote was the so-called bathrobe coat-belted, very long and roomy.
It was in the realm of daytime dresses and suits that Jackie and Audrey most haunted the collections. The biggest surprise came at the Chanel show, its strongest in many seasons. Just a year ago, Lagerfeld's offerings were a hoot-fluffy, puffy microskirts, silly hats, gold chains and logos attached to just about any surface. The designer's about-face is complete. Several of his knee-length suits had no gold trim at all. They were in black or mellow tweeds and looked like something you could invest in-like a car or a computer. Lagerfeld said he was "going back to the starting block, to putting the body first." It's important that Lagerfeld, who presides over France's most successful fashion house, is aboard.
Other conservative designers came out looking good this spring as well. In New York last week, Blass showed tweeds and corduroys in vibrant colors. Lauren played with a muted Hollywood theme and managed to get through the season without going home on the range. De la Renta staged a long, superglamorous show that concentrated on his specialty: heady evening clothes.
Designers who have traditionally followed their own muse, adjusting only lightly to the headline trends, are looking especially smart. Christian Lacroix creates with his head in the past-the past of the French masterpieces in the Louvre. To some women his work is overdecorated, but his clothes are endless reveries on color executed in minute detail, such as Lesage embroidery, usually found only in handmade costumes. Similarly, Japan's Issey Miyake, who has never cared a whit about hemlines or gold chains, played a gentle counterpoint to the mainstream with radiant fabrics and a magicianly way with material that amounted to sculpting.