Walter Show SS10

It’s no wonder that Walter gets picked up by all the best contemporary retailers: the clothes are fashion-forward but infinitely wearable, a hard line to straddle. Walter Baker’s new spring collection, presented at the Style 360/Elle space on September 15, was flirty and fun but also had the artistry of daring fluorescent prints, modern fabric, and a very precise cut.

The crowd followed suit, arriving in dresses and the short, full, high-waisted skirts that Walter helped popularize, like the one on this model, left front. At the end they all blew bubbles towards the crowd, a fitting send-off to playful show.

A cool bejeweled dress.

“Royal Pains” star Reshma Shetty looking great in color – Walter fans are generally big fans of color.

This outfit has both professional polish and a sense of fun. Here’s the new skirt silhouette mentioned above and a playful silver belt.

Love this zipper-front dress.

Sequin top – from Walter’s spring 2009 collection?

This open-tulip skirt cut is tres sexy if you can pull it off.

Fabulous print dress – like an enormous colorful scarf.

Showing more leg! Yes, the legs have it this season, so don’t expect to lay off the treadmill sessions just because winter’s coming.

One good recession fall-out: the color gray. It’s so versatile and seasonless, perfect for a dress like this that can be worn spring or fall. Designers are using more gray for spring 2010.

An elaborate feathered top doesn’t need any more ornamentation, so she’s toned down the rest of the outfit with all black.

Long, colorful skirts never go out of style – especially if you’re tall!

Jared Craft of publicity team D & E in a shiny blue suit. Remember, for men, shiny is the new matte, and for women, matte is the new shiny – in makeup, at least.

Crazy big houndstooth in eye-catching yellow.

Style.com commentator (and former model, obvs) Hanneli Mustaparta. Her pretty lavender dress had some edge to it – not just because of the architectural panels but because she’s paired it with some killer heels.

Front row at the Walter show.

Kristin Cavallari in a super sexy Walter dress.

Here are a few favorite looks from the runway. Look how he’s taken this architectural, gray-and-black print and infused it with ombre shading. Also, there’s that brilliant azure blue again. Seeing lots of layered chunky necklaces for spring 2010 and, on a beauty note, braids. This was some of the coolest runway hair of the season – the ’80s-esque side braid. (Or just do as Kate Lanphear did and shave one side of your head!) You can always tell when the models like their hair and makeup, because if they do, they keep it as-is when they leave, as at Walter.

Love the flirty ’40s pin-up look of this lemon yellow romper.

This black drop-waist jumpsuit is a nice transition from the sportswear influenced clothes that have been performing really well in stores now.

Racerback dresses: major for spring 2010.

A fabulous black silk zip-front jumper. Like Prada Sport.

There’s so much to love here – the lurex stripe fabric, the tiny shrunken biker jacket with pouf sleeves, plus the way the whole outfit just goes together.

The drape of this skirt is amazing. Really works with the wild fluorescent print too.

CEO and head designer Walter Baker at the end of the show.

A model leaving in a blue shirtdress, hair and makeup intact.