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• September 14, 2009
• Fashion Week

Derek Lam Gets Free & Has Fun Mixing Romance, Punk, and Polka Dots

By Christene Barberich

Luxury, "new" luxury, contemporary, sportswear...knowing where a line falls seems to be key to its future success, yet few designers manage to straddle the categories with grace—and Derek Lam is one of them. His latest collection, ripe with jewel tones, polka dots, and shimmer, had a free-spirited buzz to it, but if things got too "light" they were brought down to earth with little pieces of caramel suede, exposed zippers, and the models' messy-romantic punk up-dos. Little dresses in lackluster shades of mint and peach fell away while the more memorable drapey yet tailored bodysuits, "corset" trousers, and all those delectable cork gladiator heels—which Tod's Diego Della Valle and Vogue Paris' Carine Roitfeld sitting front-row kept a close eye on—gave us the thrill we were wanting.

All images from Style.com, click here to see the rest of the collection.

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