Russian Fashion Week: Knitting Factory

Put aside the perception of over-the-top Russian designs when you consider Liudmila Morsoyan's surprisingly simple and thoughtful knitwear, which she showed on opening day of Russian Fashion Week yesterday.

As Moscow's resident knit specialist, Morsoyan has many years under her belt experimenting with various yarns. Her light hand this season may have something to do with the yarns' development in Austria for space technology, she noted backstage after her show. Past collections, she further explains, were heavy on chunky wools and hole-filled mohair knits, but for spring/summer '09, the Kevlar knits were tightly woven and possessed the kind of luminescence you'd find in Lurex.

The collection comprised mainly fitted knee-length dresses (looks you'd expect, say, from Alessandro Dell'Acqua) and a stunning, swingy floor-length selection that came mainly in shades of off-white, winter grays and baby camel. Additional surprises came in the form of deep plunging backs, and tasteful cutouts to reveal a modest measure of cleavage.

—Jason Campbell