While the audience seemed receptive to the Negris Lebrum Fall/Winter show at New York Fashion Week, the almost entirely black line was redundant and unfulfilling to a fashion critique’s eye.

To set the tone of the show, intense orchestral music was pumped throughout the room, conveying an aura of drama. As the first model turned the corner, a hush rushed over the audience as they perched their bodies (and phones) for a look. The debut outfit was a stunning maroon dress, but the real spectacul was the model’s hair done in two unique french braids framing her face. The following three pieces were all well executed, coinciding with the maroon color palette.

However, there was a shift after the fourth look to an all black aesthetic. At first the use of all black seemed tasteful, that is until it was repeated ad nauseum. The entire rest of the show, seventeen looks, was done in all black. There were hints of color in the purses, but even that became redundant. If the designer had shown impeccable, forward-thinking designs, the all black could have continuously worked. Since most of the pieces were simple and could be bought in any mall or department store already, the all black became drab and uninteresting.

Towards the end of the show, the black knits and sweaters shifted to black sequins. This change in material did not coincide with the rest of the collection as the sophisticated taste was lost. The final look to go down the runway was a hooded model in a short sequined dress. The hood was an interesting feature, but could have been developed more by being incorporated throughout the collection. There were certain details like the thoughtfully placed zippers and cool hairstyles that were fashionable, but the collection as a whole was underwhelming for its lack of ground breaking design and mundane use of color.

Email Darcey Pittman at [email protected].