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February 7, 2006

The college constituency is clearly a prime target for a designer's second line—as borne out by the menswear aesthetic of Marc by Marc or Star USA by John Varvatos. Now DKNY has moved in the same direction, with a collection that would be a gift to anyone costuming a movie about campus life. It was easy to imagine a gamut of students—from preppies to beats—garbed in these clothes, especially given the way they were layered for the show. There was something about the pinstripes worn over a denim vest, the washed-cotton suit jacket topping another in green leather, or the cabled cardigan tossed over a suit, that embodied a youthfully considered approach to dressing.

Knitwear, slouchy and striped or cabled, was also appealing. Leather jeans looked like they'd fitted originally, but had bagged out with continued wearing. A satin-lapelled jacket in dark-green washed velvet suggested a broken-down formality. These were clothes with a tale to tell—the very thing that drew college kids to vintage dressing in the first place.

— Tim Blanks