Fashion Forward: Nolcha

On the second last day of New York Fashion Week, we took a break from the tents to spend some time at Nolcha Fashion Week, which features emerging, independent designers and rising talent. We saw quite a few collections by designers of a variety of backgrounds. The morning runway show had a great line up of designers: Tami B, Shericia, Kimmystic.Clo and Soka. The Kimmystic.Clo collection stood out, with edgy designs and wearable dresses. There was also a great use of color and an urban street appeal.

At the evening runway show, we sat in on Rock Hard Atelier, Afanador and Quiet Riot. Rock Hard Atelier opened the show with a great soundtrack. Favorite look was a black wrap dress, likely inspired by the great Diane von Furstenberg. Lots of short cocktail dresses filled the collection in neutral color blocked geometries, a cute style with clean lines.

We also really liked this one dress from the Quiet Riot collection (shown below), for its simple silhouette and cut. The strong shoulders and bubble-like skirt create the illusion of a tighter waist, which is always flattering.

The shoes on the runway really left a lasting impression, with high, platform heels and cute strapped sandals, by German custom shoe company, selve. Here's a video from the event by FASHION & STYLE:

[runway images via]