Stefani’s L.A.M.B. line roars at Fashion Week end

By Elizabeth Lazarowitz

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pop star Gwen Stefani helped wrap up
New York’s Fashion Week on Friday with the runway debut of her
L.A.M.B. fashion line, adding a dash of drama to a week of
largely subdued styles.

Designers this week largely brought out muted colors,
simple silhouettes and tailored looks, reflecting a national
mood marked by tentativeness over the war in Iraq, soaring
gasoline prices and rising mortgage rates.

“There were not the elements of overt sexuality. Everyone
felt it was time to get away from that,” Henri Bendel fashion
director Scott Tepper said. While the turn in fashion tastes
cannot be entirely pegged to the social climate, “when you see
a khaki or an olive green as your accent color, clearly the
mood is not utterly optimistic,” he said.

While the usual glitz, glamour and celebrity sightings were
still prevalent, a few in the fashion crowd acknowledged the
devastation in the Gulf Coast region, where Hurricane Katrina
left hundreds dead and thousands homeless.

The organization that runs Fashion Week, 7th on Sixth, sold
T-shirts, with proceeds to be donated to victims. Supermodel
Naomi Campbell was set to stage a star-studded “Fashion For
Relief” benefit show on Friday. Kenneth Cole, known for making
political statements on the runway, appeared at the end of his
show in a Red Cross T-shirt with an 800 number on the back and
urged attendees to make donations.

SUBDUED SOPHISTICATION

Embellishments of all kinds — crystals, embroidery,
beading — were evident on the catwalks this week, as were
feminine details such as ruffles and flowing, full skirts. Even
those designs came off more sophisticated and subdued than the
flashy, over-the-top feeling of many collections last season.

Neutral colors were back in vogue, contrasting with the
bold, bright hues of last spring. Calvin Klein, Zac Posen and
Proenza Schouler all stuck largely to white, beige and gray.
Fashion staple black showed up in force in collections by
Narciso Rodriguez, Michael Kors and Vera Wang.

Big belts, high waists and buttoned-up looks were in,
replacing the low-slung, belly-baring fashions seen in recent
years.

The L.A.M.B. (“Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”) show marked the
latest attempt by a pop star to cross over into the world of
haute couture. This spring, Jennifer Lopez made her New York
runway debut with her “Sweetface” label to mixed reviews.

While the fashion elite are somewhat skeptical of celebrity
brands, Stefani’s 2-year-old line has already won over some
fashionistas and has been selling well at department stores
like Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s.

“I’m not doing it for the fashion world,” she told Reuters
before the show. “I’m doing it for me.”

Still, she admits to being a neophyte in the world of haute
couture. “I know that I’m a baby at it, and I’m just starting,
and I want to be in this for a long time, so don’t be too tough
on me yet,” she said.

The show was not short on drama, with models emerging from
tricked-out cars next to the runway that bounced at various
times during the show. The clothes, which ran the gamut from
gangster-style motorcycle jackets to sexy, ruffled halter
dresses, seemed to hit the right note with the fashion crowd.

“It was everything that we were hoping for,” Tepper said.
“Everything draped beautifully, and it’s a collection that
spanned a lot of different age groups.”

Stefani, dressed in baggy pants and a simple white tank,
described her latest endeavor as a mix of Mexican gangster,
Rasta, English countryside and old-fashioned Hollywood.

“Something I’ve always done is mix and match, but it’s
about making it all work together.”