NEW YORK, May 19, 2010 / FW/ — Utilitarian yet seductively sleek, Shelly Steffee’s Fall 2010 collection is paradoxical, even contradictory with her practical avant-garde looks that is has the elements of futurism but at the same time very classic in its approach.

Designed for the intelligent woman who is confident yet not nonsensically aggressive, classic yet modernistic, tailored though relaxed, conservative yet a dominatrix undertone plays, Shelly Steffe hides her sexuality in plain sight!

If this all seems impossible, Steffee has made it possible through tough, military-inspired looks in a well-edited color palette of predominantly oily black with splashes of rich bordeaux red, muted military green, navy and nude.

Steffee continues to display her hallmark tailoring and draping techniques, and penchant for innovative fabrications. Irrevocably Steffee’s oeuvre, she delivers multi-functional clothing that centers on versatility – best shown through her re-invention of the classics.

The staple black blazer has cleverly been re-worked into a reversible jacket – one side a tailored blazer with tuxedo flap pockets and the other side Steffee’s signature ‘soufflé taffeta’ fabric, which gives the jacket volume and texture through pleats, creases and crinkles created by the wearer’s body form.

For Fall 2010, Steffee has gifted New York with a freshly formulated offhand tailored tough-luxe aesthetic that other American designers have not yet been able to grasp.

[MARGUERITE SEBASTIEN]
Photos courtesy of Shelly Steffee