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Cynthia Rowley held her fall/winter 2010 show yesterday afternoon in the majestic landmark Gotham Hall. Celebrity attendees included America's Next Top Model judge and photographer Nigel Barker and his wife Cristen, model Maggie Rizer, Anna Chlumsky, a casually dressed Alan Cumming and Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey. As we were waiting for the show to begin, we observed Nigel and Maggie pose for photogs and a gracious Glenda Bailey scoot over in her front row spot to accommodate a last minute arrival.
The show kicked off to thunderous beats from indie rockers Preacher and the Knife, backed by a Japanese drum troupe. The band was theatrically stationed behind the Roman pillars above the wintry themed runway and played as the models strutted out to show off 34 whimsical, yet strong and sexy looks.
The dresses and separates were marched down the runway with consistent detailed accents of fringe, tassels, lace, ruching and feathers. We saw fringe in black and bright hues, on two toned mini dresses, sexy tops and flirty skirts. It really worked on the runway, especially the flirty and flippy peacock blue mini, but one strong shouldered shirt with layers of thick black fringe kind of reminded us of Project Runway finalist Chris March's foray into human hair fashions. The abstract prints on dresses were splashes of bright colors in an earthy mineral design. The models all sported messy teased ponytails with streaks of bright color, complementing the looks.
On our way out, we asked ANTM judge and former model Nigel Barker for his professional opinion. He loved the "whimsy" of the collection and thought the looks were "feminine" and "ethereal," but then practicality prevailed as he mused that the looks might be "hard to clean though." On that note, we headed over to the Cynthia Rowley for Gagosian launch, where fans can purchase prints of looks fresh off the runway and you can probably just throw the dress in the washer.
· All Fashion Week Fall 2010 coverage [Racked]
· Cynthia Rowley [Official Site]