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Rachel F. Elson Brooklyn New York rachelelson@yahoo.com 415-336-5262		From the New York Post February 16, 2003 Camo marches back to the runway Fashion companies are preparing for the war the best way the can: dressing for the action By RACHEL F. ELSON Most fashion trends take a decade or so to cycle back into popularity. Military looks took just a year and a half. While media outlets have been sending reporters to boot camp and financial services companies have been beefing up security, apparel companies are doing what they do best: dressing for the action. Military cuts, utility straps and camouflage fabrics - all of which appeared in full force two years ago, then were nudged off hangers by shearling coats, peasant looks and perhaps a case of post-9/11 shellshock - are making an early comeback. In anti-war Paris, shop windows are filled with army-green palettes, webbing belts and deconstructed skirts and jackets held together with utility straps. At mall-based American retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch, core looks include olive-drab utility pants that look straight out of the Camp Lejeune supply cupboard; a new camouflage cargo short has also been selling well this spring, said a company spokesman. And here in code-orange New York, which has been aflutter all week with the 7th on Sixth fashion shows, military looks are turning up on the runways once again. Army-inspired duffle coats appeared early in the week in collections by Sean John and Luella; and Betsey Johnson brought out wide-lapelled army jackets and trousers laden with utility pockets, all in rich olive hues. Ralph Lauren's show Friday also had a strong olive drab presence, noted Bloomingdale's fashion director Kal Ruttenstein - although he said he hadn't seen much camouflage or other military influence on the catwalks. "I'm not seeing camouflage prints on the runway, but I am seeing them on the street," he said. "[Military looks] are sort of a basic street trend. I think it's a kids' kind of thing." Trend consultant Sharon Graubard, vice president and creative director for New York's ESP Trendlab, tied the military looks to a trend toward practical, utilitarian clothes. "I don't think it's because we want to go to war; [the fashion industry] is not a really political crowd," she said. "It's the practicality of those styles ... There's a sense that we might need to move in a hurry, and we don't want to be wearing pencil skirts and stiletto heels - we want to be built for action." Industry observers agree that it would be a mistake to tie the military looks to an aggressive political mood. Even Sean John designer Sean "P.Diddy" Combs followed up his collection by immediately disavowing any pro-war sentiment, saying, "I'm just so into peace right now." Indeed, rather than simply mirroring the current geopolitical tensions, the new looks seem to reflect the apparel industry's own embattled spirits. The retail recession has stretched on for close to two years now, and after an initial consumer-backed recovery, relief now feels farther off than ever. "I think [retailers] are feeling that they're in the trenches - that's probably the nicest way to say it," explained Jamie Ross, creative director for Doneger Creative Services. "It's been a retail battle, trying to woo the customer back in." At the high end, luxe conglomerates like Gucci Group and LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton are reporting only modest revenue increases for 2002; Tuesday's Gucci guidance suggested that operating profits for FY 2002 would be close to $300 million - up from FY 2001, but still below 2000 earnings. U.S.-based designers have been feeling the financial strain as well. Bill Blass on Wednesday canned designer Lars Nilsson - the second designer the house has cycled through since Blass's death - saying Nilsson's looks had failed to boost sales. And over the last couple of years, the rise and fall of would-be American conglomerate Pegasus (later renamed Lieber Group) sucked in and then spat out several high-end designers ranging from handbag crafter Judith Lieber to downtown dresser Daryl Kerrigan. Mix that industry tension with the ubiquitous images of the military buildup in the Middle East, said trend consultant Graubard, and the fashion impact begins to make sense. "Fashion is always a reflection of the moment," she said. "These images get into collective unconscious of fashion, and they come out in weird ways." From the New York Post