London based knitwear designer Mark Fast presented for the first time in New York, showing his diffusion line, Faster by Mark Fast, as well as his collaboration with ALDO Rise. While the collection displayed Fast's signature skintight, formfitting, and super-revealing clothes, in eye-popping bright colors, the diffusion line obviously lacked a lot of the intricate details. Instead, the Faster line simulates the sexy stretched out knits that made Fast famous with fishnet dresses and cutout bodystockings and bodysuits. The result are clothes that are only flattering on the absolute fittest of bodies, and even the skinniest model would probably think twice before having a meal in one of those outfits, as the slightest bit of a bump or bulge shows. Also, you can just forget about wearing any sort of underwear with these clothes, so you have to have superstar confidence to wear these clothes (or a supreme desire to piss off your parents).
With this in mind, the real draw of the show for me was the ALDO Rise collaboration. ALDO has really stepped up their collaboration game, reaching out to young designers across the globe. The knee-high stocking boots and the two toned heels both had some serious WOW-factor, and you don't even need to have toned calves to wear them. I just hope that the prices have a similarly WOW inducing effect when the collaboration arrives in stores in spring!
-Tiffany