Bagley Mischka's Riviera revery

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-12 10:02

Model walks the runway at the Badgley Mischka Cruise 2009 collection show in New York on Tuesday, June 10, 2008.[Agencies]

Sometimes Cruise, or Resort, collections have little to do with warm weather vacations in exotic locals during the cold winter months following the purchase of one's fall wardrobe it's simply a retail signifier that new merchandise will be hitting the floor pre-spring.

But Badgley Mischka's Cruise 2009 collection, which designers Mark Badgley and James Mischka presented on Tuesday afternoon, June 10, during an intimate runway show in their New York office, epitomized glamour on the high seas, particularly the kind that might be found sunbathing on a yacht in a Riviera harbor circa 1955.

Grace Kelly and her mid-fifties films "Mogambo" and "To Catch a Thief" inspired the collection, said Badgley, but a disco-era Grace - Jones, that is, would be another apt comparison, with all the criss-cross chiffon halter neck and lamé gowns making up the bulk of the duo's signature pieces. The collection's daywear section opened with a series of tropical prints in lush colors like jade, grape and mango adorning a cowl neck chiffon dress, a bikini and a raincoat. Smart, tailored safari jackets followed, along with a couple of leopard print pieces.

Eveningwear, Badgley Mischka's mainstay, was less focused, with looks ranging from bohemian caftan-like dresses to empire-waisted chiffon gowns in citrusy colors on the warm end of the color wheel to the aforementioned disco dolly numbers, but when you're dressing stars for the red carpet, variety isn't a bad thing.