No, J.Crew might not be reinventing the wheel for fall '13, but you can't deny that Jenna Lyons is anything less than a savant, debuting a collection of game-changing separates bound to become industry and shopper favorites. What the collection lacks in out-of-the-box silhouettes, it more than makes up for in the quality and creativity of simple, wearable shapes that are taken to the highest level, like a pair of blue, circle-print silk trousers or a bejeweled, lapeled coat that somehow made a camel coat feel new again.
As J.Crew proves again and again, it's not what you're wearing, it's how you're wearing it — and that rings true even at Fashion Week. Thankfully, Lyons put together a show of styling ideas that was built upon perennial tricks (turtlenecks, creative layering, color matching, and print mixing) in new and interesting ways. A scarf-printed coat with a sweatshirt covered in flowers made of crystal? Brilliant!
It is this consistency of excellence that excites us about J.Crew. That, and the fact that it's one of the few shows during Fashion Week in which we'll be able to shop it ALL at our local mall.