Peter Som Tones It Down

It’s far too early in the season to be talking about fall trends, but there certainly has been some consensus among the first shows at New York Fashion Week, which have included an abundance of dark and somber designs. There have been great textural coats as well, some in athletic sportswear shapes, at Richard Chai, Wayne Lee and, this morning, at Peter Som, but perhaps that is to be expected after the winter we’ve seen in New York. (Is it a coincidence that both Ms. Lee and Mr. Som showed variations of baseball jackets in luxury fabrics?)
At Mr. Som’s show, the designer, usually known for his painterly mix of bright colors on ladylike suits and dresses, also went with a darker palette, beginning with a twill peacoat, sweater and trousers in a navy so dark it looked black. Instead of playing off color this time around, he played with shapes and composition, mixing several materials in his outerwear and blazers, many of which had furry sleeves on fabric bodies.

Erin Baiano for The New York Times Peter Som fall 2011. (See the full collection.

We’ve all seen enough of those wool coats with fuzzy fur sleeves that make women look like gorillas — Burberry has that market cornered — but Mr. Som has adjusted the shape ever so slightly, starting a fur sleeve around the bicep, and adding fur pockets, so that the coats looked slouchy and cool. Another style combined the front of a classic trench, lined with gray flannel that extended to the collar, with the back and sleeves made of pale gray fur, what looked to be knitted fox. It looked almost as if the model were wearing a shrug. As for bright colors, they could be found on the shoes: one style of pumps had heels in a textured mauve material and green pointy toes, wrapped with an orange bow.