Bold Necklaces and Non-Silky Underthings at VPL

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

We walked into the VPL runway show at the Chelsea Piers this morning behind a British woman who was explaining to a small child, "That's the word for what happens when your trousers are too tight and people can see your knickers." Underwear-as-outerwear has recently become a bonafide trend, but VPL has been doing it since 2003, and designer Victoria Bartlett clearly isn't content with just sending a few models down the runway looking like they forgot to put on their shirts.

Her fall/winter 2010 collection ranged from ladylike dresses to Avatar-ish striped catsuits in cream and browny-gray to bulky, structural knit lingerie, which is much sexier than it sounds. Adding to the appeal were killer accessories from Lizzie Fortunato Jewels and Orly Genger by Jacklyn Mayer, like rope-knotted ankle bracelets and big handmade-looking necklaces. Celebs in attendance, for those keeping score at home: Arden Wohl, Waris Ahluwalia, Jenny Shimizu, Scott Schuman, and the ever-dapper Simon Doonan.

Towards the end of the show, the music switched from howling blues to a song by the proto-hip-hop group the Last Poets about racial tension and fighting the Man. The clothes got skimpier and weirder—macramé! fringe! sculptured woolen leotards!—and the models walked faster and faster as the lyrics got angrier and angrier. If there was a message, we couldn't parse it (when the revolution comes, none of us are going to be wearing pants?) but the mixed references were kind of exhilarating in a classic bewildering-fashion-excess kind of way.
· All Fashion Week fall 2010 coverage [Racked NY]
· VPL [Official Site]