NYFW Spring 2013: Karen Walker Looks to the Nifty Fifties—And Outer Space

6:00 PM, September 11 2012

By Elana Fishman

Taking a bit of a breather from the buttoned-up suiting separates for which she's perhaps best known, New Zealand designer Karen Walker showed a spring collection heavy on the dresses and skirts. We use the word "heavy" ironically, of course, because this particular lineup was anything but. In fact, many of the prints on display referenced the sky—as in the hundreds-of-thousands-of-miles-away sky—with white stars dotting denim trousers and blazers and moonstones and cartoony planets sprinkled over silk dresses and tops.

Also nodding to the mid-century spaceman (or should we say spacewoman) motif? Metallic copper circle skirts and boxy collared tops that subtly recalled the look of an astronaut's uniform. But not all was NASA-themed: the polka-dotted looks, including knitwear and billowing pants, brought things back down to Earth. And we wanted to snatch a wallpaper-printed coral-and-white dress—which would look just as smart today as it would have on a Sterling Cooper secretary—right off the catwalk.

Photos: WWD/John Aquino