Matthew Ames Womenswear S/S10

As the lights dimmed, sounds of thumping heartbeats came through the speakers, and all waited in suspense for Matthew Ames ‘s only second and significantly higher produced runway show at Milk studios yesterday. Ames, reinvigorating the meaning of American Sportswear for Spring, put his eye through a minimalist perspective inspired in color by Ellsworth Kelly, in black-and-white geometry by Agnes Martin, and in movement by dance avant-garde Merce Cunningham, yielding a more accessible collection full of colorful silk dresses that largely echoed the early days of Jil Sanders. Ames continued to show off his originality with his signature inclination to fabrics and attention to shapes as seen in everything from a transparent plastic knee-length jacket, organza capelets and oversized shorts, and mono-colored silk jumpsuits, at times with enough volume to pass as floor-length dresses.