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Each day throughout Fashion Week we'll be spotlighting one brand or designer whose pieces make up the bulk of our own closets—and we're guessing yours, too. We'll let you know what to expect to see in stores next season and, of course, any other gossip we took away from the shows.
Photo credit: Getty Images
During Fashion Week, it's surprisingly rare to hear excited chatter when an amazing design comes down the runway—particularly these days when many audience members are too busy looking down texting and tweeting. But when designer Michelle Smith's ivory and black pencil skirt with shocking pink piping made its debut in her Fall 2012 Milly show, the decibel level grew dramatically. It was that striking.
In many ways, the skirt was representative of Smith's whole fall collection. All the designs were ladylike, yet cool, like Milly pieces always are. But many of them had a futuristic bent and intricate construction, a departure from the designer's more vintage-inspired previous outings. While this collection takes the brand in some new directions, we see it as more of an expansion of, rather than a departure from it's roots. One which Milly fans will be open to.
Fabrics included high tech materials like laminated tweeds and technical taffetas, as well as more traditional ones like leather and silk. A number of the designs incorporated overlapping scallops, bubble skirts or origami construction, which made for some beautiful and fun silhouettes. Striking cocktail dresses and skirts were highlights, as well as a number of Michelle's extraordinarily stylish coats—something we think she does better than just about anyone.
Although we didn't see many of Milly's signature prints, Michelle's color choices remained bold. Basic blacks and whites were mixed in with heliotrope blues, clover greens, bright chartreuses, and gorgeous shocking pinks, all of which really popped on the runway. We confess we wanted every single one of the shocking pink pieces—as well as most of the others.
And we weren't alone. The brand's adoring fans were out in full force, including Kristin Chenoweth, Ramona Singer, India de Beaufort, Tinsley Mortimer, and Top Chef judge (and Racked and Eater reader), Gail Simmons. The crowd watched the models walk the runway to the very unexpected, yet much appreciated accompaniment of Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" and Run DMC's "Mary Mary." Unfortunately, Fashion Week front row denizen Angela Simmons, AKA Run's daughter, wasn't at this show to hear her Dad's tune. It would have been fun to see if it got her moving as much as it did the rest of us.
Michelle Smith's adorable toddler daughter Sophia, however, did put in her usual appearance at the end of the show. The model for the Milly Minis line ran onto the runway from her front row seat and jumped into her Mom's arms. We don't blame her—for that pink piped pencil skirt, we would too.
· All Fashion Week Fall 2012 Coverage [Racked]
· America's Next "Tot" Model: Sophia, age 4 Is the Muse Behind Milly Minis [Racked]
· Milly [Official Site]