TRENDS Leather demonstrates versatility for spring

Lighter weights have allowed the material to work for warmer weather looks.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
When it heats up outside, fashionistas get the urge to show some skin. This usually means halters, cropped tops, shorts and abbreviated skirts.
For spring it also translates into leather and suede. Designers are mastering the warm-weather possibilities of this traditionally fall fabric.
Giorgio Armani succumbed to dermal desire and created supple leather jackets and soft suede pants. Calvin Klein topped a feminine satin dress with a short leather jacket, while Moschino liked the combination of a leather skirt and a floral silk jacket. In his haute couture collection Jean Paul Gaultier created a showstopper that boasted shredded leather patchwork. Better-department-store mainstays Dana Buchman, Liz Claiborne and St. John also included leather in their latest lineups.
"Leather is becoming a year-round," said Knoxville, Tennessee retail store manager Gail Rackley. "It's really great for evening wear. It always gives a sleek good look."
Rackley's store, Cache, showed jackets, halters, skirts and pants in leather and suede for spring.
Rackley said the leather used for Cache's spring pieces is Italian lambskin, which is usually lightweight, making it feasible for warm-weather wear.
"It's spring weight," said Michael White, manager of women's clothing at Proffitt's in West Town, in Knoxville. "It's not lined as heavily."
New kind of leather
Yansi Fugel introduced ultra-thin "Paper Leather" this season.
The colors that paint the items are usually brighter than the tones that saturate leather and suede pieces shown for fall. White is popular. Other shades on the palette include natural looking browns and beiges, and pastel pink and blue.
Also giving the leather and suede pieces the feeling of spring are an array of details. Buchman employs basket-weave panels and airy eyelet touches. Claiborne integrates crocheted trim into its pieces. Embroidery is also seen, as well as ruffles.
The leather and suede pieces can be worn in a number of ways.
Kelly Clayton, who has carried leather and suede the past three spring seasons, believes most shoppers will mix them with tops and bottoms of other fabrics.
"It's hard to do it head to toe, like in winter," she said. "You need a skirt or a cropped pant (to put with a leather or suede top) or a short jacket with a three-quarter length sleeve (to combine with a leather skirt).
Whether a leather outfit or suede separates, this trend seems to appeal to a certain customer.
"The people who are buying it are very fashion-conscious and want something very different," said White.