Debut New York: Gray Days and Bright Nights

Last week we wrote about one of our favorite new brands emerging from the U.K. and launching with Debut this season. This week we feel compelled to wax poetically about another such brand, and it’s quite the foil to Felder Felder’s stormy palette and studded glamour. Louise Gray’s eponymous collection of separates, including the slickest denim and softest chiffons we’ve pawed this fall, also launches with Debut for Autumn/Winter 2009. Gray bases her collections on the credo that things never have to be as they seem, an ethos that she executes in a diverse offering of signature – yet far from basic – silk chiffon tunics, bright hues and through-the-looking-glass arrangement of textures and materials.

This season Gray ushers in plush, form-fitting optical cashmere knits, neon layers of chiffon with hand-sewn embroidery and a take on the omnipresent “jegging”, a skinny, dark jean backed in black cotton spandex with a subtly sinister pointed stud at each hip. These have the lovely, and as of yet untapped party in the front, business in the back appeal – pair with an elongated tuxedo jacket, or a slouchy, soft knit and spiky heels. We love each distinctive piece; however what captured our immediate attention (and will surely steal yours) are the mirror adorned pieces. A cropped denim bustier has the controlled chaos of glass shattered, then artfully rearranged and stitched down to create a new form. The effect lends definition, shape and depth to the design, a jewelry-like approach that Gray also daringly applies to a delicate chiffon tank dress.

The Louise Gray collection is a harmony of colors and textures fit for glittering city streets, dark corner booths and smoky dance floors.