University of South Carolina Libraries
OK ♦ Monday, September 22, 2003 7 TT MTY • js?? 1 i ■ / I I COCO CHANEL: In order to be k I W I I / irreplaceable, one must always —I■—* —■ ^ be different.” season of style Fashion’s finest release spring styles, offer original, chic approaches to classic elegance and appearance BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK While many in America have yet to decide what they will be wearing this fall, the fashion elite have already turned their stylish eyes toward the spring season. Ready-to-wear designers unveiled their spring 2004 collectionsJ.ast week in New York City, showcas: ing airy fabrics and prim skirts that suggested Easter rather than autumn. Taking over New York’s Bryant Park for the 10th consecu tive year, Fashion Week featured the newly minted collections of sportswear icons — Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan—and such up and-coming it-labels as Zac Posen and Proenza Schouler. Whether striving to continue their ready to-wear reign or hoping to solidify their budding careers, the de signers turned out surprisingly real-world-ready styles. From knee-length skirts to easy chinos, spring chic embod ied the essence of all-American fashion. Rugby stripes and nauti cal hues colored many of the col lections, appropriately designing the pieces for winters in Palm Beach and Long Island summers. The iconic designers that have de fined American style reaffirmed their right to rule, showcasing classic clothes in fresh tones. Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole and Michael Kors all embraced their country club minded sides — their collections suggested that while the avant garde has its place in fashion, re finement remains the essence of smart dressing. With a relatively uniform fo cus on elegance, the spring col lections continued the return to sophistication that many design ers toyed with in their fall lines. Industry insiders affirmed that fall wear reflected a changed American perspective, a con ' sumer need for safety and re serve. The new spring offerings clearly expressed a similar Senti ment. Gone were the decon structed tinges, the decorative hardware and the domineering edge that had defined the street wear of recent seasons. Regardless of whether such changes truly reflect world events and issues, they do offer a re freshing respite from the trend overload that has plagued past seasons. Consumers will no longer have to decide whether to embrace rock couture or to chan nel a ’60s vibe with their wardrobes. And those apt to as sembling ill-fitting amalgama tions of various styles will thank fully have fewer trends to plow through. As far as the fashion world is concerned, punk is officially dead, and being bohemian is no longer trendy — at least for the time be ing. Classic blouses and slim-fit ting sweaters complemented the easy fit of preppy khakis and pen cil skirts; demure party dresses and tailored suits were clearly made with ladies who lunch and the men who marry them in mind. Frilly yet classy, evening dresses capped off many of the collections, dresses that were per fect for evenings at the Met and summer garden parties. As the industry’s pinnacle pret-a-porter presentation, New York Fashion Week naturally at tracts the biggest names in cat walking each year. The definitive supermodel of past seasons, Gisele Bundchen, stepped out to an explosive reception as she started the fashion parade for Marc Jacobs’ signature line while wearing cropped chinos and a cream, sleeveless sweater. Fellow uber-model Carmen Kass led the procession at Tommy Hilfiger, while Vogue favorite Liya Kebede opened the show at Kenneth Cole. VHl’s 2002 model of the year, Karolina Kurkova, was first down the runway for newer designer Behnaz Sarafpour. Achieving that elusive mix of art, elegance, and star-power, the spring 2004 ready-to-wear collec tions were ultimately a bold tes. tament to the endurance of American style. No matter how many avant-garde ideas design ers and trend-setters develop, the basis of chic dressing has re mained the same. Revamping classic cuts, reworking their trademark styles, designers proved that conservative does not have to mean dull. All one needs this spring to be en vogue is a pair of great-fitting chinos, an assort ment of Palm Beach-ready sweaters and an air of elegance that says, “I may not own a yacht, but I can dress like I do.” The Runway Wrap-Up ♦ RALPH LAUREN: The arbiter of casual elegance reworked many of his classic cuts in bolder hues, from sharp blacks and whites to electric shades of or ange. While many of his runway looks combined traditional pieces in various, contrasting brights, the everyday Polo wearer will likely find that Lauren’s high voltage solids make more work able wardrobe elements when paired with neutral staples. ♦ TOMMY HILFIGER: Hilfiger’s spring show began in a flurry of white — white skirts paired with white shirts, white dress pants paired with white jackets. And then he unleashed the color. Green, orange, fuchsia, marigold — various shades showed up in both men’s and women’s wear, adding a spark to button-down shirts and satiny skirts. The clothes were classically cut yet clearly beach-minded. ♦ KENNETH COLE: As the “of ficial” colors of his 20 th anniver sary collection, black and white made a sweeping statement at Kenneth Cole. The show was dominated by the shades, al though Cole threw in a few pieces in yellow and blue for good mea sure. The result was a wearable resort wardrobe well-suited for the working urbanite. The uni form color palette would allow a pair of 9-to:5 pants to be dress down with more relaxed coordi nates for weekend wear. ♦ CALVIN KLEIN: Klein himself stepped down from the design helm last year, but the new man behind-the-seams, Francisco Costa, delivered a clearly Calvin collection. The silhouettes were trim, the colors were generally muted and the fabrics gave off an impeccable sheen. Aside from a lone pink dress, the collection was awash in shades of brown and gray — the perfect line for fashionable minimalists looking for enduring styles. ♦ MICHAEL KORS: Kors went for classic, nautical colors in his spring collection, forgoing the electric, sorbet tones embraced by his counterparts. His striped separates and buoy-orange coats epitomized sailing chic. His mod els might not have been seasoned sailors, but they were well dressed for sun-drenched days on the waters of Cape Cod. After all, fashion is all about dressing the part. ♦ DONNA KARAN/DKNY: Donna Karan’s signature collec tion apparently fell into the same vat of fabric dye as Calvin Klein’s line—an orangey-brown provid ed the boldest hint of color. Her line might not have screamed Palm Beach, but it captured spring 2004’s de rigor sense of re finement. Karan’s clothes were decorated with ruffles and frills in many cases, yet they remained slim-cut, although airy. Her DKNY line employed a sleeker, more urban aesthetic and even dipped into the realm of bold color with a finale of bright swimsuits. ♦ MARC JACOBS/MARC BY MARC JACOBS: Marc Jacob’s sig nature line was all pastels and spring flowers. Jacobs also opted for more feminine pieces, creat ing layered, ruffled skirts as well as khakis. His typically youthful Marc by Marc Jacobs collection was wildly eclectic, complete with rich purple mini-dresses, long scarves and athletic inspired jerseys. ♦ OSCAR DE LA RENTA: DeLa Renta turned out what were ar guably the classiest clothes of the spring season. He started his show with Aubrey Hepbum-style dresses which segued into floral skirts and pastel sweaters, and he finished with more adventur ous gowns that were equal part? Hollywood glamour and whim sy. With De La Renta’s trim knits, sleek shift dresses and tulle skirts, a society woman would be well suited for break fast at Tiffany’s, lunch on Park Avenue, and dinner at the Plaza — all within a fashionable day’s work. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Fabulous spring fashions were the real superstars at New York’s spring 2004 Fashion Week shows in Bryant Park. VIDEO GAME REVIEW ‘Tactics Advance ’ is great fantasy “FINAL FANTASY TACTICS ADVANCE" Game Boy Advance irk*** out of BEN ANGSTADT the gamecock At long last, one of the all-time worst break-ups has been recon ciled —no, not Ben Affleck and J. Lo. This mended relationship is the one between Nintendo and video game maker, Squaresoft. After bolting from Nintendo nearly a decade ago, Squaresoft has made their triumphant return with “Final Fantasy Tactics Advance” for Game Boy Advance, their first Nintendo game since the days of the Super Nintendo. And thanks to Nintendo’s new Game Boy Player, GameCube owners can play “Tactics” on the TV screen as well. “Tactics,” the long-awaited se quel to 1997’s “Final Fantasy Tactics” for PlayStation, follows the same strategy- and role-play ing game style established by its predecessor. Combining the turn based fighting system of a tradi tional RPG with the expansive bat tlefield ^f military strategy games, “Tactics” offers great variety in its addictive game play. The game’s plot line follows the story o£ a young boy named Marche. After reading an ancient book, he and his friends get sucked into a fantasy world full of monsters, knights and magic. Marche’s only choice after enter ing this new world is to join with a group of warriors and find a way to get back to his home. This storyline is vastly differ ent from the dark and highly dra matic tale spun by the original “Final Fantasy: Tactics.” Fortunately, the more laid back story keeps the game from getting bogged down in its own plot, al lowing the focus to stay on the en tertaining game play. « ♦ TACTICS ^DVANCE, SEE PAGE 8 PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK “Tactics Advance” ta^es players to new levels. i Cash’s ‘Hurt’ video is powerful tribute STEVEN VAN KAREN GAMECOCKMIXEDITOR@HOTMAIL.COM MTV’s oversight of the late legend is appalling. As of Jan. 30, I was not a Johnny Cash fan. I owned none of his records and had heard none of his songs. The name was simply thrown around with words like “legend” and phrases like “The Man in Black.” But on Jan. 31,1 suddenly and completely knew who he was when the music video for Cash’s cover of the Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” aired on VH1. It is with this video that Cash left the world as he had (jash -lived in it: with powerful, straight ahead, gut-wrenching art. Johnny Cash died Sept. 12 be cause of complications from dia betes. He was 71. Because of “Hurt,” I followed his career the past nine months, through the death of his wife June Carter in May to his own passing. Both Johnny and June appear in the “Hurt” video, making it a haunting epitaph for two musical legends. Haven’t seen the video? Get on the Internet and watch it. If you have friends over, politely demand total silence and watch as the video climaxes into a frenzied montage of Jesus’ crucifixion, a younger Cash performing and years flying by. At the very least, you will be moved. At the most, you will be moved to tears. Seeing this gnarled, starkly-dressed, old man singing about a history of drug-ad dicted pain and the desire to take it all back led me into the world of Cash’s music. On the day of his death, I bought two items: Cash’s 1968 “At Folsom Prison” and a T-shirt fea turing the Man in Black defiantly flipping the bird against, what else, a solid black background. “Folsom Prison” is the only Cash album I own, and though I don’t know much about the man, I know that “Folsom Prison” is a rollicking good live recording, full of deep-voiced quips and songs about jailbreaks and executions. As an opponent of everything that MTV has done over the past five years, I was pleasantly shocked to see that director Mark Romanek’s video masterpiece was nominated for six awards at MTV’s 2003 Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. Was it possible for MTV to actually rec ognize true talent rather than . glossed-over garbage? Apparently not. The video took home one award, for Best Cinematography, which is the equivalent of the booby prize to satiate the true music fans. Every person who has seen the video can relate to the disgust that I felt after Cash lost in all but one category. I have seen the oth er nominees’ videos, and while some are funny or technically im pressive, they did not perform the function of a music video as well as “Hurt”: that is, to accom pany the song for maximum effect. One fact I have learned in life is that when something is built up to epic proportions, it falls flat in the eye of the beholder. Just watch the damn video. The black stops there, and rightfully so. Johnny left the world in fitting form — ballsy, emotional and forever a legend. Van Haren is a second-year engineering student. \