Runway Review: Rock icon Patti Smith was the style inspiration for the knockout Ports 1961 Pre-Spring 2011 collection by Tia Cibani.

For anyone who has not had the amazing experience of seeing Smith perform live, particularly in a small venue, you are truly missing out on a brilliant force of music, poetry, and performance.

From the days of being called the "Godmother of Punk, " to her riveting early album covers photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith does it on her terms.

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Ports 1961 / Resort 2011

Ports 1961 Pre-Spring 2011 that references Smith’s iconic presence is an edgy black and white collection, with highlights of electric blue that celebrates gender equality and represents a modern androgyny, according to notes from the designer.

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While at first glance, Smith’s style can be interpreted as a bit of rock and roll grungy, it is anything but that.

“My style says ‘Look at me, don’t look at me,’ ” she said, a hint of testiness ruffling her easy composure.
“It’s, ‘I don’t care what you think.’ ,” Patti Smith tells Ruth La Ferla in a recent interview in The New York Times .

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“It’s about being conscious of who you are and using all the strength you have to communicate that, ” Ann Demeulemeester the designer and a friend of Smith says in the same interview.

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Each piece in The Ports 1961 Pre-Spring collection has that deliberately cool, urban chic, rocker edge and Cibani steps away from the usual shoulder seams and instead used tucking, folding and padding to create structure yet still be extremely wearable and timeless in its coolness.

>> More on Patti Smith at Amazon

Ports 1961 Resort Collection Fashion Show Photo Gallery:

_{Fashion photos courtesy Ports 1961}