At New York’s Fashion Week our favorite designers Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra debuted their Spring/Summer 2012 collection of dresses and separates. This is the fifth season Costello Tagliapietra has used AirDye® technology to dye their fabric.

The SS 2012 collection featured 26 pieces, of which 21 used AirDye. Over the years, Costello Tagliapietra have come to understand AirDye’s unique capabilities and design their pieces with this in mind. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the underside of the dresses is a different color. As Costello explained to Ecouterre before the show, “We really play with the back colors as much as the front colors. That really pops the color a lot.”

The theme of the show is “garden party” and romance. The floral prints in the collection are inspired by Georgia O’Keefe and, as always, the draping, folding, and finish work of each dress make them a work of art in and of themselves. The florals were created digitally by juxtaposing images of blossoms in Asian rainforests.

Here’s what just some of the fashion press and bloggers thought of the collection…

Women’s Wear Daily

For their latest collection of wear-everywhere dresses, not to mention the occasional jumpsuit and separates, Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra hit upon another group of bankable pieces. Drawing inspiration from a favorite Georgia O’Keeffe quote about the beauty of flowers, the duo created a custom print by digitally layering photos of gardens atop each other, resulting in a look that was more batik than flower.

Style.com

The pair is on the side of evolution over revolution, and they found themselves revisiting core values like romanticism and femininity. Both themes were present in the classic dresses here—some in jersey, others in satin—whether expertly bow-tied and bloused or sewn into twisty gathers at the waist….This season’s crop of prints were also fresh, including a couple of smudgy, painterly florals that looked like peeling walls, and another with stenciled leaves, particularly lovely on a bell-sleeved forties-inspired number. Costello Tagliapietra has a deceptively simple formula that adds up to pretty, not precious.

Avenue Insider

Costello Tagliapietra applauds the shape of women- tied, twisted and belted waists with drapes and fabric that frothed with every movement. Continuing their ‘green’ partnership with AirDye, Jeffery Costello and Robert Tagliapietra chose a fabric with a ‘garden party’ theme; clashes of copper and cobalt and red and grey. The CT team played with intricate techniques of cut with the shoulders and necklines – adding natural movement to the satin and jersey garments.

New York Post

Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra did what they do best: variations on the wrap dress (and occasional gown), from sexy to sophisticated to office-appropriate. Many of them were tied tightly at the waist in a bow, another Costello trademark, creating an ultra-feminine silhouette. Some were subtly sliced down the back, while some had deep V-necks or draped fronts. There was even a forest-green wrap with wrist-length sleeves, Kate Middleton-style.

Fashionista.com

“We took photos of flowers, put them on the computer and layered and layered them,” Costello said. “That’s how the prints came out and informed the collection.” As for the palate–forest green, grey-blue, dusty rose-colored prints–Tagliapietra told us “the colors don’t wear you, they emphasize your personality.” Simon Doonan agrees. “I thought the colors were enormously sophisticated,” he said. “They have an unusual juxtaposition of color.”

Racked.com

The New York Times has been talking all about how we’re going to be seeing a lot of sleeves this season thanks to Kate Middleton, but the bearded duo behind Costello Tagliapietra have been doing that for a while now, so get with the times, Times. In short, the silks were beautiful, the prints complimentary, and the backs of the dresses open in some way (a slit) shape (a low scoop) or form (totally bare). Plus, it’s pretty hard to top all that intricate drapery.

And overheard on Twitter…

@SecondCityStyle Seashell pockets abound at @CostelloTaglia. The print mixing is ideal and very chic #nyfw

@HarpersBazaarus Classic Costello: pretty draping and beautiful colors! #NYFWSC

@castorpolluxnyc I could look at the @CostelloTaglia Spring collection all day long and never tire of it. What immense beauty in clothing.

More on our Twitter Favorites feed.

We like to look at the latest in eco-fashion trends and sustainable design ideas, and we think we’ve found something you’ve not yet hear of: designer Suzanne Lee who’s figured out how to grow her own clothes.

We’re not talking about a woman who’s got an organic cotton field out back. Not at all! After talking to a biologist and began to combine tea, sugar, a few microbes and let them stew for a bit. Lee says in her TED Talk, “I’m essentially using a kombucha recipe, which is a symbiotic mix of bacteria, yeasts and other micro-organisms, which spin cellulose in a fermentation process. Over time, these tiny threads form in the liquid into layers and produce a mat on the surface.”

Without light, or care even—just a consistent warm temperature—you can have a malleable substance that’s as thin as a paper or as heavy as a vegetable leather. When Lee removes it from the bath and washes it off and sets it out to dry. She can place it around a three-dimensional form, like a shoe. As the material dries, it will form together and seam itself.

From what we can tell, the natural state is translucent and a bit like pale skin. But Lee has found ways to use organic dyes and indigo to get some striking designs.

The biggest drawback: the material melts if it gets wet. But this is still new, and as Lee puts it:

What excites me about using microbes is their efficiency. So we only grow what we need. There’s no waste. And in fact, we could make it from a waste stream — so for example, waste sugar stream from a food processing plant. Finally, at the end of use, we could biodegrade it naturally along with your vegetable peelings. What I’m not suggesting is that microbial cellulose is going to be a replacement for cotton, leather or other textile materials. But I do think it could be quite a smart and sustainable addition to our increasingly precious natural resources.

What do you think of the future of bacterial cellulose for clothing?