Catwalk turns urban safari at Fashion Week

Tommy Hilfiger
You’d think over the last two decades, Tommy Hilfiger had done everything to a navy blue blazer that he could. It is, after all, the staple of his preppy style.

But he showed the New York Fashion Week crowd that he’s got a few more tricks up his sleeve.

The first look of his spring collection was a double-breasted women’s version in coarse cotton gabardine that was worn over silky pajamas in navy-and-white stripes. (The jury is still out on whether the PJs were sleepwear or ’70s-style glam loungewear.)

The jacket, with brass buttons, was a slimmer, more chic version than he offered in the past. He also did a slim-cut, laced-jersey tunic and a double-breasted A-line coat with bracelet-length sleeves — both in navy.

There were navy jackets for men, too — the best of which were lined with a retro Palm Beach-map print. The same colorful print was used for a pair of ladies’ silk-scarf shorts.

Hilfiger said he was inspired by the ’60s and early ’70s, and that he had Grace Kelly in mind when he updated the shift dress by accessorizing it with a scarf and two-tone heels.

He closed his show — and essentially Fashion Week — with two elegant white dresses: one with tuxedo ruffles down the front and one with a bow at the base of an open back.

Jennifer Lopez
Big colorful butterflies hanging from the ceiling. Pink, purple and green trees. A model dressed as a fairy, on a swing.

Jennifer Lopez said her new young contemporary line was “fantasy — classic inspiration but with a new, kind of funky spin,” so she turned the setting of her JustSweet show Tuesday night into a fairy tale.

Models pranced down a silver sparkling runway wearing colors called pixie dust, magic mint and pirate pink. The clothes were sparkling, too, ranging from a sweater dress with thick, sparkling, colorful, diagonal stripes to denim boy shorts with a sparkling brown hoodie.

Lopez, 37, said she developed JustSweet to fill the void between J.Lo, her denim and T-shirt urban wear line, and Sweetface, a high-fashion, higher-priced line. She wanted to do something in the middle. All the pieces range from $49 to $99. She said she designed the line for the young at heart.

The actress-singer, who performed at Fashion Rocks on Thursday, said she’s not worried about whether she is taken seriously as a designer.

“I’m not looking for the credibility,” she said. “I’m looking to make clothes that every woman can wear.”

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