职业套装再成时尚先锋

The fall 2010 collections may offer the best clothes for working women since Yves St. Laurent introduced the sleek 'Le Smoking' pantsuit in 1966.

In Milan, Gucci, Jil Sander, Etro, Marni, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Bottega Veneta and Aquilano Rimondi all showed elegant, classic versions of women's suits -- tailored jackets with either pants or skirts to match. In New York, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and others did the same. Now it's up to the French -- who are just starting nine days of runways shows in Paris -- to shape the trend.

It's hard to overstate how different the new suits are from the dominant styles of the past few years. Very recently -- until about two weeks ago, in fact -- being 'matchy-matchy' was considered a fashion crime. Florals could be mixed with plaid and sable with denim. But a tailored jacket that matched its pants or skirt suggested a blind eye toward style. A key look was a dress worn with a cardigan, Michelle Obama-style. Now, it looks as if designers have moved on from the first lady to adopt Xerox Chairman Anne Mulcahy as a muse.

Also, many of the clothes shown on runways in recent years were plunging, see-through, micro-mini, or so skinny that they would inspire a week of water-cooler talk at the office. That left a lot of working woman shopping at Talbots or St. John and feeling awkwardly out of fashion.

The new look is comfortable, strong and far from body-revealing. It's redolent of the Charlie girl -- the pantsuit-wearing woman in the early-1970s ads for the Revlon perfume. In contrast to the power-shoulder looks introduced in recent years, there is nothing exaggerated about these clothes except the luxury of the fabrics. The silhouette is elongated, with long jackets and flowy, relatively wide-legged pants.

The Charlie girl, as played by the model Shelley Hack, influenced thousands of women (including a young Oprah Winfrey, the entertainer recently said on her show) who wanted to be just like the figure in the ads: a modern career woman, sexy and confident. She wore a fluid pantsuit whose tailored jacket, trousers and silk blouse all matched.

These days, women aren't as optimistic about career empowerment. But in Milan, Tomas Maier, who showed a swank 'Charlie girl' suit for Bottega Veneta, recalled that '70s optimism. 'Clothes are not in control. Women are in control,' he said post-show.

Aquilano Rimondi, designed by Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, showed another version of a 'Charlie girl' suit -- dark, double-breasted and wide-lapeled -- in a wearable collection that contrasted sharply with the overly dressy and complicated looks they've shown in past seasons. The duo made a similar about-face at Gianfranco Ferre, which they also design, by featuring comfy-looking wide-legged pants in a sparkly gray wool, along with other highly tailored looks that seemed cut to flatter rather than to reveal.

The suiting trend is so marked that even designers who are known for something entirely different are showing it. Veronica Etro, renowned for her vivid colors, bohemian patterns and fluid fabrics, showed matching tops and narrow-legged pants, as well as a coral-colored 'Charlie girl' suit, updated with cropped, cuffed, wide-legged pants under its double-breasted jacket.

Miuccia Prada heralded her fall collection as 'normal' clothing -- 'classical, classical,' she said. She showed nip-waisted dresses, with darts at the bustline to fit a regular woman's figure, and simple heels. It was such a turn from what's usually on her runways (hip waders and panty-shorts were the essence of her last winter collection) that it seemed almost subversive.

It will be exciting to see how these collections sell when they arrive in stores. American department stores appear to be embracing the approach. Ken Downing, fashion director for Neiman Marcus, said in Milan that it's been a 'good season so far.'

As she waited for Gucci's show to begin in Milan, Linda Fargo, Bergdorf Goodman's fashion director, said she welcomes the 'return to classic tailoring.' What followed at Gucci was a lot of matching gray suiting -- tailored jackets and long pants -- and an emphasis on texture and luxury fabrics.

The height of the trend came at Dolce & Gabbana, which has built its reputation on provocative ads and shows. This season, it offered an emotional tribute to the tailored jacket -- and the skills of the seamstresses and tailors who labor on the Italian company's clothing.

A film in the backdrop showed these employees measuring, pinning and stitching in slow motion, as live models in the foreground cat-walked in versions of tailored suits. (For artistic effect, the jackets were sometimes worn over lingerie.) The acknowledgment of tailoring was so full of reverence that it left numerous moist eyes in the audience.

Then the show closed -- not on the standard fantasy gown but on a perfectly tailored overcoat.