CZAR is "Immortalized" for Fall/Winter 2013 by Cesar Galindo

It's mighty difficult to impress a Fashion Week crowd at nine o'clock on the morning following opening night. But impress is just what Cesar Galindo did.

With LIFE SUSPENDED, Galindo gives us a selection of refreshingly wearable clothes, each with its own surprising detail: an angle here, a skin showing there. As Cesar states, “this is a collection based on the principle of slowing down, take a pause, check your reality, pay attention. We are moving way too fast, and to best interpret our surroundings you have to simply stop; as in a state of stasis, the absence of gravity, take a pose, take in life, notice the details. Life has so much to show us within all creative communities”.

One of those "creative communities" is the city, reflected here in blurred cityscape prints and a palette of brick, graphite, umber, sable, violet and blues. And brocades,variegated herringbone & faille, georgettes, charmeuse and the like provided sophistication.

The other referenced here, with the softly sculptural nature of the collection, was that of IMMORTALIZED, AMC's show about taxidermy as art. Blissfully, however, all of the fur was faux. And it was splendid - particularly as a textural counterpoint to a fitted or flirtatiously flowing piece, as with his graphite, chunky bustier matched with slate, stretch twill pants and an amethyst, stenciled pheasant faux fur shawl.

CZAR is "immortalized" by Cesar GalindoCZAR is "immortalized" by Cesar Galindo

Hair, side-parted and smoothly pulled back into a low, small bun, was by Janelle Chaplin for Original Minerals. And the chic make up was by Ashunta Sheriff for Mary Kay. Shoes were by Michael Antonio and another sponsor was Rock of Art