If you love sailor stripes, a '60s cat eye, and a touch of Parisian je ne sais quoi, you will love Whitney Pozgay's Whit. Inspired by Marianne Faithfull and filled with the most covetable and wearable pieces (think a metallic tweed oversize sweater), Whit's Fall 2013 collection will have you rushing to place your preorder. Check out our exclusive sneak peek before the show airs tomorrow!
It was all about the tropics at Whitney Pozgay's Spring 2013 presentation for her line WHiT. Indeed, the designer — and recent inductee into the CFDA incubator program — not only drew inspiration from a recent trip to St. Lucia, she also said that one of the collection's main themes was the idea of "decompressing." To that end, the silhouettes were just as throw-it-on easy as the brightly hued banana leaf prints were sweet. Adding to the vacation spirit were neon-accented straw bags, wide-brimmed hats, and printed canvas desert booties.
>> Whitney Pozgay knows how to do prep — and she should. The designer cut her teeth working at Kate Spade and Steven Alan before launching contemporary label WHIT two years ago. But what makes Pozgay's particular brand of prep so appealing is that it leans just slightly askew. This season, that means a mod little coat in a brilliant shade of blue, a heavy dose of metallic, and far-out planetary prints.
>> Whitney Pozgay's sophomore Whit collection — with its paperbag waists and polka dot party dresses — was inspired by a girl playing dress up in her grandmother's closet. "You know when you're a little girl and you put on a blouse and the bow is really big because it's meant for an adult? I tried to take those proportions and play with them in a more wearable way for adults," Pozgay explained. "So it's ladylike but really pushed with proportion and detail and construction to make it seem a little more playful and youthful." As she summed it up in her show notes, the look she was going for — which included a wheat pattern inspired by 1950s wallpaper and a "menacing bird print" handpainted by Jemme Aldridge — is "Hitchcock meets Tavi, with a dash of Grey Gardens." The resultant collection was shown in a Chelsea gallery, with each painting from the gallery strategically chosen to hang behind the look it best complemented.
For some time, Kate Spade has had a serious following for her handbags and shoes. From there, she's expanded into jewelry, luggage, sunglasses, accessories, beauty . . . and now apparel. Her clothing collection is only a few items for now — a Mexican-style loose top, a smocked tunic, a webbed belt, and a couple of loose summery dresses. But expect the collection, which is designed by Kate's niece Whitney Pozgay, to expand with time. Watch out, J. Crew!
