Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/111120
THE NEW POWER SUIT Ladies who lunch is so 2012. This year is all about outfitting women for the multitasking lives they lead���and making sure they look flawless from the boardroom to the carpool line. BY KATE BETTS af Simons must have known instinctively that he couldn���t open his debut ready-to-wear show for the House of Dior with one of the ultra-feminine 1950s skirt suits the French couturier made famous in 1947. No, yards and yards of sweeping skirts and tiny nipped-in waists���what Dior called the Corolle, or flower look���would be totally pass�� for one of the trendiest designers in today���s fashion firmament. As they say, we���ve come a long way, baby. Like many designers this season, Simons instead responded to the alpha women and power brokers who dart from the boardroom to the banquette at the Four Seasons or the bulkhead seat in a G5. Those maneuvers require something sleek and fitted, such as Spring���s ubiquitous pantsuit. Simons accessorized his tailored black pantsuits with feminine flourishes such as a chic red lip and a scarf tied at the neck. Even in the evening, Dior customers will be suited up in pencilthin pants topped by strapless bustiers in colorful jacquard fabrics. He hasn���t been the only one appealing to the workingwomen who buy designer clothing. Stella McCartney, Giorgio Armani, Victoria Beckham and Hedi Slimane also bet their Spring 2013 collections on slim, tailored pantsuits. McCartney cut hers in baggy, low-slung shapes, while Slimane turned back the clock to Yves Saint Laurent���s romantic 1970s slouch. The ���80s made a subtle comeback on Beckham���s runway, where skinny black pantsuits were shown over strappy bra tops. And at Balmain, suits equipped with linebacker-sized shoulder pads were a flashback to the days when women needed reinforcement to smash glass ceilings. But let���s not forget just how long it has taken for the pantsuit to gain credibility in the workingwoman���s wardrobe. Coco Chanel was one of the first to introduce pants for women back in the 1920s. Inspired by the sailors on the Duke of Westminster���s yacht, Chanel���s pants were for casual dress and had to be accessorized with masses of gold chains to soften their masculine look. Chanel���s idea didn���t really catch on, unless you count adventurous daredevils like Amelia Earhart, who made pants part of her iconic look out of necessity. Hollywood screen sirens such as Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo and, later, Katharine Hepburn gave the masculine look a sexy edge. Dietrich famously swaggered around a nightclub in top hat and tails in the 1930 film Morocco. But for workingwomen who couldn���t play with gender-bending looks at the office, pants didn���t become a reality until World War II, when ���slacks girls��� headed off to the factories in coveralls and 78 BAL HARBOUR ��FONDATION PIERRE BERG�����YVES SAINT LAURENT/DR R The Le Smoking tuxedo was introduced by Yves Saint Laurent in 1966.