Runway Review Excerpt: Yigal Azrouel did have his highly desirable outerwear on full display alongside some great contrasting cocktail frocks, some 80′s sex-pot sliced swimwear and some 10+ menswear looks that were some of the strongest options for men New York has seen for quite some time.

Yigal Azrouel is one New York designer I’ve been enthused about for years not only because his clothing is very well made for it’s semi-modest price points, but also because it’s never overtly trendy, his pieces always have a quiet urban appeal that stand on their own.

>> See our complete runway coverage and fashion show photos

Unfortunately this time around for Spring/Summer 2010 Azrouel hopped on the Alexander Wang bandwagon full on and for such a strong designer, there was no need for him to be so literal about it. Do Azrouel’s Meat Packing clientele wear sweatpants, even if they are super-cool and cashmere? And before I go on ladies, you have to understand, Alexander Wang has not created anything new, as his signature is ripped straight off the cool girls of the world. That being said, Azrouel did have his highly desirable outerwear on full display alongside some great contrasting cocktail frocks (reminiscent of Dell’Aqua), some 80′s sex-pot sliced swimwear and some 10+ menswear looks that were some of the strongest options for men New York has seen for quite some time.

Regardless of how derivative this collection may have been, it was full of the kind of clothes that are cool and for the confidant, although it would have been much more stabilizing if he had managed to put his own spin on a movement that almost every one out there has already touched upon. – Naveed Hussain

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