Runway Review Excerpt: We can’t forget that when this collection hits stores, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser that’s been tweaked to offer something for absolutely everyone. _#NYFW

Cynthia Steefe is one of those sportswear labels that quickly rose to prominence during the earlier part of this decade only to be fizzled out by some serious in-house design changes before the company was able to make its signature clear and concise and most importantly strong. This left new designer Shaun Kearny wandering between disparate notions of where to lead the successful line.

His Spring/Summer 2010 outing for Cynthia Steffe was to me, not only one his, but one of the line’s strongest collections to date.

Kearny played with fashion’s recent flirtation with naive Liberty prints and completey washed them out, creating an end result with print’s that were not only playful, but so powdery that they had a very soft, frothy, luminescent beauty that was a great counterpoint to today’s fascination with tough, urban gear. This softness played a major role throughout the collection, saving it from being too saccharine sweet and literal, which was a smart move considering how girly-girl and precious the assembled looks were.

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It also took your eye away from how very trend driven the silhouettes were, creating smart riffs on the tried-and-true. Boyfriend blazers, eyelet lace, tiers of ruffles, rompers, wet-look fabrications and cropped jackets all made an appearance creating an end result that was light-hearted and rather young. While I say it may be too young and a bit too washed out against summer tans, we can’t forget that when this collection hits stores, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser that’s been tweaked to offer something for absolutely everyone. And for a sportswear label like Steffe, the effects of Kearny’s risky color palette proved this was a very bold and promising effort, one with something to say that I am more than eager to listen to. –Naveed Hussain

_{Photos, this page only, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week New York}