Sally LaPointe Spring/Summer 2011 Runway

The out-of-the-way Center 548 became an unlikely punk haven for Sally LaPointe's debut NYFW presentation. Once guests were seated around strategically placed cinder-block bridges, a pair of androgynous boys in black flanked the industrial, neon-lit elevator, fog spilled out over the floor, and girls embracing "the intoxication of accepting madness" tottered out onto the runway.

LaPointe's collection is all about the juxtaposition of tough edge and dark sophistication--or in her own words, "a mix of beauty and distortion." Highly conceptual, the 26-year-old is at her best when she keeps it simple. An impossibly slim pantsuit with exaggerated "horsehair lash" hips is a bold, geometric take on proportion, and her opalescent, iridescent monochromes are both elegant and avant-garde. Call it post-apocalyptic/goth-futurist chic, if you can say that three times fast. She still has a bit to learn to become a real, signature force in high-fashion; there's quite a hint of Gareth Pugh here, a touch of Rick Owens there--particularly in her hand-crafted shoes, astronomically high monster boots made girly with a cloudy coating of flowers (more than one model took a wee bit of a tumble). But with her fall 2010 collection already selling out at Convent and Oak, she's well on her way to becoming a directional superstar. Her first, altogether stunning runway show down, expect her to flourish.

Photos courtesy of Andrew Werner.