It’s that time again…

If there is a catchword that sums up 2015, it must be transparency. Whether it is in reference to Hillary Clinton’s emails: “I am trying to be as transparent as I possibly can.” Or the fact that smartphones and social media have given us a direct view of what it’s like to be a black person in this country dealing with law enforcement officials, we are living in an age where formerly locked doors are being thrown open.

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ZAC Zac Posen SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

"Dressed-up street style" was one way Zac Posen described the latest collection from his lower-priced line, ZAC Zac Posen. But these weren't the too-perfect looks worn by professionals parading up the Lincoln Center steps at New York fashion week. Instead, Posen's silhouettes were more reminiscent of something photographer Bill Cunningham might shoot for the On ...

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ESCADA SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Fans of Escada's colorful pantsuits and embroidered gowns remain quite loyal, so it's important to keep them happy. Fashion director Daniel Wingate accomplished that by offering cropped raspberry Taroni silk trousers, metallic leopard-print organza split-neck dresses, and photo-real tropical floral prints on black pencil skirts and tailored blazers. A black knit dress covered in enameled ...

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BAND OF OUTSIDERS SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Band of Outsiders impresario Scott Sternberg took this season off the fashion calendar, the better to focus on his first-ever stand-alone store, which opens in Soho on Sunday. And the new Band shop played an important role in shaping the brand's latest collection, as Sternberg explained at an appointment today. Although his jumping-off point was ...

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CUT25 BY YIGAL AZROUËL SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

It's nearly impossible to describe Yigal Azrouël's clothes without the word sex inserting itself, even when it comes to his casual Cut25 by Yigal Azrouël collection. But for Spring 2015, Azrouël wanted his contemporary line to be more about an inner confidence than an outwardly body-con look. The focus, therefore, was on dresses and separates ...

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M MISSONI SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

While Frida Kahlo inspirations are a dime a dozen in fashion, that vibrant starting point dovetailed nicely with M Missoni's signature, colorful aesthetic for Spring '15. This season, Angela Missoni and co. reinterpreted several of the iconic artist's most recognizable themes. She made subtle references to Kahlo's works with the opening series of gray intarsia ...

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RED VALENTINO SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli's Spring's Red Valentino offering skews young—sandals-and-ankle-socks young. The theme, said the designers via phone from Rome, is "Cinderella hitting Las Vegas after a love affair with a sailor," and in keeping with that unexpected, almost kooky starting point, there were marinière stripes in navy and red and peacoats on ...

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10 CROSBY DEREK LAM SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

True to Derek Lam's signature aesthetic, each of his lower-priced Derek Lam 10 Crosby collections is a balancing act between simplicity and maximalism, structure and ease, masculine and feminine, technical and natural, and the list goes on. Inspired by contemporary collage artists Fred Free and Sigrid Sandström—who often work with common materials such as corrugated ...

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TSE SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Tina Lutz takes a personal approach to designing her collections for TSE. Whether she's drawing inspiration from a nature documentary recently viewed with her son or an image pulled from a coffee table book published by her sister, Lutz ties each season back to a different meaningful memory. Spring '15 paid tribute to mixed-media artist ...

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SACHIN & BABI SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

This year, Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia decided to split their namesake label into two parts, breaking off eveningwear into a new collection called Noir. But Sachin & Babi—the contemporary line—is still very much in play, and this season the Ahluwalias wanted to take their signature embroideries and textiles in a more athletic-inspired direction. "Young, energetic, ...

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HALSTON HERITAGE SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Today Marie Mazelis was quick to point out that Halston Heritage is no archival brand. In the two years since taking the helm of the relaunched house, Mazelis has focused on splicing the house's weighty DNA with modern ease to turn out a contemporary line. In keeping with a footing that's firmly placed in the ...

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JOSIE NATORI SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

On the first official day of New York Fashion Week, Josie Natori's island-themed Spring '15 show offered one last summer escape for showgoers in for a long month of collections. Drawing inspiration from her native Philippines and its surrounding tropical destinations, the designer kicked things off with neutral, sandy-toned looks featuring East Asian pieces—often decorated ...

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CHADWICK BELL SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Foundational dressing was the theme at Chadwick Bell today, and the collection centered around clean, sculptural basics that could be styled in endless combinations. Inspired by Whitewash, Nicholas Alan Cope's book of stark black-and-white photographs of modern Los Angeles architecture, Bell incorporated bold contrasts (primarily in black and white), away-from-the-body shapes, and touchable fabrics. "It's ...

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HELLESSY SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Aren't there enough refined clothes on the planet to satisfy all who desire them? With Spring 2015, designer Sylvie Millstein made a pretty convincing argument that her 2-year-old line, Hellessy, deserves a spot in the thinking woman's already crowded wardrobe. "I really wanted to dress an aesthete," she said of this season's muse, a downtown ...

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GARY GRAHAM SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

While Gary Graham's romantic collections can occasionally seem frozen in the historic past, this season felt firmly rooted in the here and now. Instead of hitting the library stacks for inspiration, as he often does, the designer turned his attention toward the skies. "It was important for us to get out of the studio," Graham ...

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LISA PERRY SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

On Wednesday, Lisa Perry, forever inspired by art, transformed her Upper East Side shop into a runway with a backdrop made to look like Vir Heroicus Sublimis, one of Barnett Newman's most recognizable color-field paintings. (It's currently displayed in Gallery 16 on the fourth floor of New York's Museum of Modern Art.) "He's one of ...

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KAELEN SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Kaelen's Spring forecast is looking flirty. Spurred by an image of a tropical bloom, designer Kaelen Haworth turned out an offering that felt girlish (or, perhaps, womanish) without sacrificing a bit of sophistication. The tension between masculine and feminine has long been a Kaelen preoccupation, and while she maintained many of her chicly boxy shapes ...

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JOIE SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

This season, Joie—a brand synonymous with femininity—changed things up a bit. "This time, I wanted to do things I've never done before," said creative director and CEO Serge Azria. That meant suits. Instead of borrowed-from-the-boys silhouettes and fabrics, though, Azria opted for tennis-stripe white linen with an easy, casual fit. Paired with basic tees, the ...

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DUCKIE BROWN SPRING/SUMMER 2015 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Who is the Duckie Brown woman? After a decade-plus designing menswear, Daniel Silver and Steven Cox put women's clothes on their runway for the first time back in February. They weren't entirely pleased with the results. "We tried to change it too much, it was too womens-y," Silver said at their Spring lookbook shoot. Adjustments ...

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