Designer Crush: I Heart Karen Walker

Of all the great TV one-liners out there, my favorite by far has to be Tim Gunn's polite Make it work. I love this saying because, in three simple words, he is onto the crux of the matter: some designers know how to make it work, while others don't--and therein lies the difference between good and great. Hence my designer crush on Karen Walker. She is a designer who totally works it.

Back in 2008, aptly encapsulating the go-to style of this New Zealand born designer, The New York Daily News reported that Karen Walker has always been a go-to label if your idea of sartorial bliss is cute balanced with a dangerous edge. With a look that is classic and understated, yet simultaneously much too cool for the country club, Karen Walker's designs are fit to covet. Her most recent collection for 2010, entitled The Village, was inspired by a 1960s British television series. Navy, yellow, and gray abound in a montage of looks that are nautically inspired without being trite, as they are contrasted with quirky prints and splashes of color.

BUT... As I am lacking, among other virtues, patience, I simply can't wait for the new year. This season, I'm in love with the Karen Walker twist-front dress. A more traditional piece, this frock's appeal is part librarian and part cocktail party--a blend that speaks to Karen Walker's signature aesthetic. As fashion writer Cat Callendar has said, Walker has hit on a clothing formula. The kind of look that provides a means of appearing cool but no trying-too-hard, cute but not saccharine, alternative but not self consciously so. The fact the these clothes are so totally not ‘fashion’ is what appears to make them so now.

For the gal on the go, her work is able to transition easily from day to night--while also passing my personal fashion test: Would Jackie Onassis wear it? I venture to say that indeed she would. Which is why I crush on Karen Walker for her bravery as a designer who understands that life--and fashion, for that matter--exists both on and off the runway.




Images: (1) Karen Walker's designs for The Village, image thanks to House of Aroha (http://www.houseofaroha.co.nz/); (2) Twist Front Dress by Karen Walker $405, available from Gargyle (www.gargyle.com). Quotes about Karen Walker from the Karen Walker website, http://www.karenwalker.com/.