Fashion Week SS09: Rosa Cha

Or: Après Cha, le deluge.

It was a category five clothing quandary: What to wear for a hurricane during fashion week? The answer: The same thing you'd normally wear, of course. Nina Garcia gave some very practical advice through NY Mag: opt for platform shoes. "I've learned that it's about the biggest platforms you have so that you can go over the water."

Red lipstick.



Great boho pants. Paired with the necklace, they telegraph Brazilian chic.



Miss USA Crystle Stewart, who looked very cool in her own cross necklace before her handlers made her take it off to put on a boring sash. Boo!



Two young women in all black. The "Anglomania" tee is Vivienne Westwood.



Liked her defiant use of white shoes after Labor Day. This outfit is somewhat practical: umbrella and platform shoes as hurricane preparation plan.

THE SHOW

One of the biggest trends in swimwear has been the return of the one-piece suit, which should keep going strong next spring and summer. Rosa Cha showed a number of one-pieces, many of them in very sexy cuts that belied the idea of one-pieces as conservative.

This simple suit in a tomato red Chevron pattern got a great reaction from the crowd.



Here Rosa Cha designer Amir Slama turns the conservative element of a one-piece on its head, injecting it with peekaboo bondage elements.



This dress in a gorgeous green pattern is actually a pantsuit. Super wide palazzo pants floated down the runway. Let's hope this design becomes the new standard for glam beach coverups.



In what would be a recurring theme with several designers this season, there were brown looks for spring, including this sheer cocktail dress.

Brown for spring: a natural progression from winter florals? The whole idea of seasonality is in question right now--especially because it was the first time in recent memory that a hurricane came to New York Fashion Week.

See the whole show on NYMag.com.