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Diane von Furstenberg: Bourne for Bad Gals

It was Veronica Lake meets Veronica Voss in a spy chic collection by Diane von Furstenberg staged Sunday evening in Bryant Park, the first major show in the current New York season.

A fall 2008 collection whose underlying theme was the allure of the femme fatale, opened with gals gallivanting around post war Berlin, in a "Spy Who Came In From The Cold" screen where undercover agents appeared in sexy jersey or silk negligee dresses under plaid cardigans, herringbone coats and micro belts. In a word, great poster models for a Fassbinder version of a John Le Carre thriller.

These were sexy Hit Women, with flounced Lake hair, and shell shaped felt hats, cute damsels a long way away from distress, out to ice an undercover agent. No wonder Diane named the collection Foreign Affair. Watch your back Alan Ladd.

This was without doubt Von Furstenberg’s best collection since she moved her show out of her former West Village atelier and into the Bryant Park tents. The slimmer silhouette, jaunty styling or natty accessories - like taut, long leather gloves, great gold bracelets from Brazilian jeweler H.Stern and sleek, multi-strap shoes - combined for some great looks; feminine but not insipid, tough yet sensitive.

Other standouts included pewter sequined mini mess jackets, snazzy flapper dresses embroidered in metal for greater oomph and the signature wrap dresses updated in stardust patterns or Chrysler Building prints.

The collection was also a great example of how a new stylist can freshen up a label, with ex Face lass Grace Cobb adding youthful snap and downtown poise.

Diane’s Hit Women – featuring an intriguing cast with some great new faces like Timoxa and Atong - also took a tour through China, with a White Countess Art Deco moment. Von Furstenberg is a having a real global moment, and is just back from China where she’s been opening stores.

“China fascinates me. If I were a young woman I’d move there. It’s like Egypt 2,000 years ago, a huge civilization on the move,” Von Furstenberg told FWD at a post-show dinner in the Meatpacking headquarters, before the volume was turned up on a giant screen, and the chic crowd erupted into cheers in the final Super Bowl quarter as Plaxico Burress scored the winning touchdown to give the New York Giants a 17-14 victory over the New England Patriots.

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