eae bed (or (On the runway for spring, designers have been showing off their new ideas for the season. While there's been ‘some excitement over futurism and architectural forms, the best development on the runway, in my humble and ob- sessive opinion, is the outstanding jewelry that defined many of the shows. There are phases in jewelry’s relation- ship to fashion- sometimes it exists in a separate world of trends, sometimes it is as central to fashion as clothing itself. Right now, we are witnessing jewelry in fierce ascendance in fashion, as seen in most of the strongest col- lections presented for spring, With everyone struck by economical malaise, it is a stroke of brilliance to rely on exceedingly creative jewelry to motivate buyers. Instead of designing very safe clothing, which is much too boring to inspire desire in buyers, many designers are realizing the importance of their accessories lines, especially jewelry, to offer a smarter and more enticing product which allows the designers to continue generating creative ideas that suit the integrity of their lines. This is admirable thinking. AMter all, we look to fashion shows for creativity and talent, yet designers are forced to work within the constraining reality of sour financial times. By bringing jewelry, especially bold costume jewelry, to the fore of collections, designers are able to offer a defining piece of their line in a necklace or a pair of earrings. This means it makes more sense for them to design creatively satisfying collections that truly express their vision. Even though the jewelry might outsell the clothing, the designer's vision is what people are buying into with the jewelry. Its the bold glamour of Lanvin that women are after when they buy a Lanvin necklace- the image of expressive silk dresses, the creativity of Alber Elbaz- even though the necklace Is really an accoutrement to his designs. With collections lke that of Mari, jewelry is an accessible way to buy into a look, with a piece that can be worn ev- eryday, instead of once in a while like a Mami dress. Marni’s show in Milan for spring featured chunky, statement- making jewelry on each and every model. The jewelry is essential to the capturing the look of the collection on the runway and forms a central part of the line’s retail offerings. It seems to me that this would be a good way for stores to approach the new season, focusing on real investment pieces, which are naturally going to be jewelry, so that they can still offer the allure of designer styles. A good way for stores to capitalize on all this great designer Jewelry would be to have it displayed with the clothing collections they are meant to complement. In a department store, jewelry is almost always in its own area of the store, with clothes on separate floors, but to encourage shop. pers to feel that they are buying a piece of say, Marni, a case of Mami jewelry should be with the Mami clothes. This Is rarely the case in stores, due to, | think, old methods of selling jewelry and clothes, but with the two taking ‘on dueling importance in fashion, stores should change their methods. It seems that designers are also starting to understand the ability of jewelry to provide contrast and depth to their presentations, like at the Jil Sander show. Raf Simons’ stunning, modern take on flapper fringe became a complex and total vision thanks to the sharp, inventive spear earrings with diamond tips that the models wore. And at Philip Lim's show, the amazing stained-glass necklaces and pins gave the clothing a distinctly modern identity. The jew- elry was so new, so innovative, and yet perfectly wearable and desirable, like Lim's clothes seek to be; but without the geometric, mult-hued jewelry, the clothes would have been indistinct from many of the other New York presen- tations. The downturn has everybody wondering what will happen, will anyone buy anything, but of course there are few among us who are going to completely freeze spending- we will just buy less, and maybe buy more intelli- gently. | think that the feeling now will be less about buying everything that’s good, and more about buying a couple of pieces that make a woman feel good when she's dressed. by Laura Rysman