Stella McCartney RTW Spring 2009

Real-clothes sightings have been in particularly scant supply this week, making the appearances of good ones all the more alluring. In counterpoint to the staunch futurism and other high-concept statement clothes elsewhere, and in accidental solidarity with Dries Van Noten, Stella McCartney showed a collection that delighted in the simplicity of its purpose: to function for real women while making them feel beautiful.

But then, designing for reality while flaunting that fact from the runway has long been McCartney’s professional raison d’être. For spring, she championed the cause deftly while taking a savvy turn from her recent cozy mood. In its place, a decidedly sexier attitude that looked terrific. 

For openers: jumpsuits. McCartney was at the head of this craze and considers them a practical basic. For spring, they came in short or long silk shantung with plunging V collars that pilfered from the classic trench and men’s jacket. The latter made for a key piece, cut with a strong shoulder in easy proportions, sometimes over racy cocktail dresses. The frocks were diverse, from a languid charmeuse T-shirt to a bandage number, and the knits, divine, especially over a sequined slip. It was all shown in a gentle palette of blushes, pinks and washed blues.

Not so McCartney’s vibrant backdrop, a fabulous felt mural by Jake and Dinos Chapman, depicting a merry scene populated by children and animals, which she wants to place in a school or other venue. “I don’t understand it when designers do elaborate sets and just get rid of them,” she said before her show. And that wasn’t the only opinion she put on the record. Using her program notes, as always, to dedicate her show to her family, friends and team, she added a postscript: “Vote Obama!!”