'(3 Apr 1998) English/Nat Two of New York fashion\'s top designers showed that their autumn 1998 collections were in full foliage on Thursday. Oscar de la Renta strewed his runway with leaves raked from his Connecticut country house last autumn. Meanwhile, Bill Blass offered New Yorkers a look at his exclusive range of classic clothes for the well-healed. New York\'s fashion week continued with extravagant autumn collections from Oscar de la Renta and Bill Blass. Both had designed classic clothes for uptown people. Inspired by the opulence of extravagant locales such as Catherine the Great\'s winter palace, De la Renta stitched up a collection that would be at home in any royal digs. Against a photo mural of an Italian garden in ancient ruins, his models showed off rich embroidery, jewels, beading and fur trims in designs that hardly skimped on opulence. Among the more eyecatching outfits was a red ballgown dressed down with a black cashmere pullover sweater. Beaded chiffon dresses, intricately detailed patchwork skirts and wool crepe dresses all signalled high-octane opulence. Outfits were lavishly accessorised with jewels in topaz, diamond and sapphire, from the Verdura collection by an Italian Duke of the same name. Elsewhere in the Big Apple, Bill Blass won over the crowd with outfits reflecting a philosophy of pared-down, moneyed elegance. He chose to use the minimum amount of colour in his collection. SOUNDBITE: (English) \"I think the whole thing with it is that is simply sportswear, but elegant sportswear with cashmeres and thin fabrics and for night black velvet presumptuous and glamorous. I open with a flash of red, but that is the only colour.\" SUPER CAPTION: Bill Blass, designer Blass is best known for wardrobing the well-bred in well-heeled renditions of the trends. This season he set the stage for sophistication with his signature mixtures of day and evening styles. He had no pretentions of breaking the mould with his collection. Blass believes it\'s a great deception that clothing has to be new - what people really want are variations on familiar shapes, colours and styles. But while it might not be the most adventurous approach to fashion design, his continued popularity shows that he\'s found a niche in the market. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5bcfaf5eef0e48da06944b9361b850f7'
Tags: Lifestyle , oscar de la renta , United States , New York , new york city , events , AP Archive , Arts and entertainment , 76207 , 5bcfaf5eef0e48da06944b9361b850f7 , USA NEW YORK FASHION WEEK OSCAR DE LA RENTA / BILL BLASS
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