FORM Pre-Spring 2008 Collection

by Yuan-Kwan Chan

It’s ironic that designer Jerry Tam’s "Pre-" Spring 2008 women’s collection comes under a label called FORM, because the clothes took on anything but. Creatively-chopped sheets of light fabric make an incongruous figure-draping option for the majority of common folk save absurdly tall, lithe models with stick-thin figures.

Place those same models in the context of an outdoor show held at the Rockefeller Center Rooftop Garden – surrounded by skyscrapers, and adorned with shrubs – and outside the chaos of a New York Fashion Week, and what could be a typical runway show becomes a garden party turned live art exhibit. Tam eschews conventional hems in his mini-dresses and gowns made primarily in satin, silk, taffeta and chiffon. Practicality and oddly-placed ankle boots aside, these clothes are sure to make any woman the talk of the party, whether she likes it or not.