Nanette Lepore Resort and Swim 2014

We're hitting the last of summer! Locavore designer Nanette Lepore put on two great presentations in the past few months. First, she presented her resort collection of bodies that paired a traditional porcelain print and a contemporary, digitally printed floral into chic rash guard tops and bottoms.

Nanette Lepore's Miami Fashion Week swim show brought us more great prints.  The suits were great, but the long, flowing dress cover-ups and tunics were perfect for beach to soiree dressing.  Unusual color combinations like the apricot tunic and ice blue embroidery was a great way to update basic silhouettes.

When asked if the beach was now the new runway, Nanette replied, "Absolutely! Everyone wants to be able to express themselves and look fabulous no matter what they're doing."

Back in the NYC showroom, I enjoyed browsing through all of the coordinating accessories.  Nanette carries through her patterns and colors into fun, wearable shoes.  The handbags are built with a tech-savvy customer in mind.  The brightest colors of her palette are well represented.

Much of Nanette Lepore's collection is made in New York.  She was one of the most visible advocates for Save the Garment Center in NYC.  Her advice to new designers on deciding to produce locally: "Do it! The costs are about the same and you'll be able to have more control over everything. It's so worth it!"

What do you think of designers who produce locally?  Would that be more appealing to you as a shopper?

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Stella McCartney Resort 2014

The rain came down and the prints were bold at Stella McCartney's 2014 Resort collection.  Celebs from Liv Tyler to Naomi Watts and new BFF Amy Poehler were in attendance at New York's attempt at a proper English garden party.

Lots of ladylike dresses at the knee or above were presented in elegant fabric like python printed jacquard or duchesse satin.  The color palette was more traditional for resort, pulling from black, white, navy, red and yellow, but avoiding the conventional cruise or nautical motifs many other designers like to do for this season.  Instead, my favorite pieces from this collection were the laser cut hearts and crafty lip shapes.  They reminded me of the tissue paper party garlands you find at Mexican celebrations.

Stella has long surpassed the status of pop music princess, but the lit up signage certainly looked like she still embraces it.  The collection looked fantastic, but still looked a little too dressy for the jet-setting socialites on vacation "resort" usually implies and certainly very dressy for the American crowd.  I just can't see sitting down in the damp grass for an al fresco meal in one of these outfits, even though picnic baskets were staged throughout.  Is the problem here that I'm the only one who can't carry off a satin day look without mud or grass stains all over myself?

Photos by John Acquino from WWD

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