Fall Fashion Preview
Celebrity pals help Elie Tahari come in from cold with fab winter coat collection
At New York Fashion Week, Joan Rivers, Giuliana Rancic and a trio of Seattle Seahawks (Super Bowl champs Bryan Walters, Walter Thurmond and Phillip Bates) helped designer Elie Tahari celebrate the 40th anniversary of his namesake label with a fall/winter 2014 collection that has plenty of chic coats to keep customers warm when temperatures fall.
Tahari said he based his collection on "a ray of light through the darkness," which must have accounted for the bevy of upside-down clear plastic umbrellas that lined the ceilings of his Fifth Avenue flagship store. The wearable collection features shades of "storm clouds" (dark and light grays) with pops of color (red, light teal and sky blue) that provide contrast.
Although urban-inspired hand-crocheted sweaters, leather leggings, pleated skirts and fur vests were standouts, coats and jackets dominated the collection. Styles included bomber jackets with shearling hoods, cocoon coats with knitted sleeves, A-line wool coats in bright red or pastel blue, and high-tech varsity jackets in techno fabrics.
Many looks were layered — in one case a coat covered a matching leather bomber jacket — with knit scarves, beanies and fur trapper caps as accessories that provided a warm feeling.
Taking in the scene were Houstonians Dona and Robert Murphy, who won a trip to see Tahari's New York show in a raffle in Houston last fall, where he was the featured designer at Catwalk for a Cure. "I'm a New Jersey girl. I've been wearing and watching his clothes since 1972," Dona Murphy said. "I'm so excited to be here."
The mischievous Rivers, star of Fashion Police, posed for selfies with fans and playfully set up a photo of a waiter serving drinks to several models. She ran it on her Twitter account with this caption:
A waiter at the @elietahari presentation feeding the models. On the menu: hot water with just a hint of arugula. pic.twitter.com/0NqQbzcMx8
— Joan Rivers (@Joan_Rivers) February 12, 2014