Queen of the grown-up hipster, Karen Walker S/S '09

In spite of the torrential downpour, wet fashionistas lined up and waited for entrance to the Karen Walker show in lower Chelsea. Notables in the crowd included a predictably made-up Lynn Yaeger seated next to Mickey Boardman of Paper mag. The downtown magazine set was in the house with the Nylon magazine staff holding court near the end of the runway. The show started easy and relaxed and sustained the breezy tone throughout. Chambray basics and silk taffeta dresses cut in loose silhouettes and dropped shoulder sleeves looked perfectly ready for a below 14th street summer foray, with a washed blue silk tank dress using a tie front and cut-outs at the waist being the crowd stunner. To further the effect of youth languor, the models sported prettily dissheveled hair, sometimes with kinks built-in, and a whited-out makeup palette which all contributed to the coolness factor of Ms. Walker's designs, as if they were fresh from a night partying at Santos Party House. Model newcomer Hyoni, fresh off a win at the Ford Supermodel of the World contest, was a surprising standout especially in an oversized cream bamboo t-shirt with leopard print silk taffeta shorts. Ms. Walker also debuted her eyewear line with updated takes on the Wayfarers and vintage 60s cat-eye. While the eyewear lookbook left at each seat featured a better lineup, the redos of the Wayfarers seemed too commercial as just about every new eyewear line has featured some update of the classic Ray-ban. But you can hardly blame her for she knows her customer base well, particularly the sophisticated hipster who has outgrown in-your-face style in favor of a more subdued version of downtown relaxation, and there a tweak on the Rayban would be surely coveted.

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