Libertine Fashion Week show big on embellishment

NEW YORK — Energy ran the runway for Libertine's fall collection.

Designer Johnson Hartig studded everything from tights to coats to dresses with circles of silver, pink and blue for his fall collection shown Thursday at New York Fashion Week.

"It's the most embellished collection I've done, and I didn't intend that to be the case, but I loved these oversized paillettes," Hartig said, referring to the oversized sequins. "It started as Haight Street hippie but it morphed into Eastern European gypsy."

The collection favors outerwear, opening with a black silver-studded poncho and featuring a women's cape with a skull and crossbones on the back and two front lapels. A pink, red and green houndstooth print was studded with silver and sparkly leafless tree branches spread across other coats and dresses. The runway lights bounced off the shiny detailing.

There were dressy jackets in creams and blacks, also, of course, studded.

Models wore multicolored, platform boots with chunky electric blue heels and black tights with silver studs.

For men the studded jackets were made in bold, wide plaids in bright colors like green and yellow. Another look paired a varsity jacket with a skull and crossbones on the back with skinny, almost tight-like, black pants.

A men's black hoodie sweatshirt jacket with skull and crossbones said "toughie" on the back.

At the end of the show the models danced down the runway two and three at a time, jumping and holding hands instead of walking in the traditional single file line.

Follow Caryn Rousseau's coverage of New York Fashion Week at http://www.twitter.com/carynrousseau.