DESIGNER: Sophie Theallet

INSPIRATION: "I was thinking about folklore and old children's stories that little girls grow up with all around the world. I wanted to bring back to women the lost memories and magic we felt when we fell in love with our first princess dress." Theallet also cited the 1970s film "P'eau D'Ane" (Donkey Skin) with Catherine Deneuve as inspiration.

WHO WAS THERE: French fashion icon and YSL muse, Lou Lou de la Falaise; Anna Wintour; fellow designer Rachel Roy; Veronica Webb; and darlings about town, Dr. Lisa Airan, Amanda Brooks, Olivia Chantecaille, Derek Blasberg, and Fernanda Niven

TOP LOOKS: Navy printed flouncy knee-length prairie dress on Coco Rochas; short black shearling jacket with black skirt; dark mauve, shearling short wrap jacket over washed bias-cut silk mauve skirt; scarlett velvet top with eyelet trim paired with plissé chiffon watermelon silk skirt; chocolate silk plissé dress with navy velvet trim.

ACCESSORIES: Suede high-heel slouch boots with tassels by Manolo Blahnik for Sophie Theallet. Personal gold charm necklaces and bracelets by Finn for Sophie Theallet.


WHAT WE THOUGHT: Sophie Theallet took home the top prize from the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund this summer. So, all eyes are on the French born designer (with her most charming French accent) this season. And she didn't let them down. With an Alaia pedigree, Theallet possesses technical skill most designers would only dream of and she uses this to create free drapey dresses, jackets and skirts that are all her own.

"It's definitely not what everyone else is doing," said Olivia Chantecaille from the front row. Dresses are flouncy, light, and flattering, "they look easy to wear," said Chantecaille. It is refreshing to see pretty clothes in lush colors and sensuous fabrics on women of many colors and races. There is something in Theallet's presentation which said, this belongs to all women--not just the stick thin with very far apart eyes.