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• February 17, 2009
• Fashion Week

Max Azria Pumps Up the Glam at Hérvé Leger

By Xiyin Tang

"Hérvé customers don't want trendy, they just want classic. The dresses just aren't selling," an unhappy sales rep had told us once at the boutique on Madison. This was during the spring collection, when Max Azria dared to put some rosettes on the classic bandage dress. So we're dying to know how Herve's core customer--classic and conservative with a penthouse on Park, we'd imagine--is going to react to his fall collection. Irrevocably, it was Balmanian: The sharp cut-outs, the strong shoulders, the sequined detailing. Could Azria possibly be taking the storied French house in a younger, hipper direction? If the plated gold minidress on Anna Selezneva and the shimmying little chainmail slips over ass-grabbing bandage dresses are any indication, we'd say so. Let's just hope all the Decarnin comparisons (and the model slips, which we're sure you've already heard about) don't stop Azria from getting the recognition he deserves.

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