In fashion`s never-ending quest for the new, it`s often the old that looks surprisingly fresh.
So it is now as the classic twin set emerges for fall as a trend rather than a relic. Twin sets-for those who weren`t around in the `50s when they were the sporty rage with long, flowing, skirts or even in the `70s when Halston lifted sweaters to rarefied status-are simply two matched but not identical sweaters. One is generally a simple pullover, the other is a cardigan. It`s the color, proportion, detailing and textures-or mix of textures-that give them a new personality.
For example, when Yves Saint Laurent showed his fall collection in Paris, he wowed his audience when he presented a very simple but very unexpected evening look from a French couturier: a red cashmere twin set over a full and long black satin skirt. In New York, Bill Blass showed a similar ensemble while Anne Klein`s Louis Dell`Olio teamed a black crewneck sweater and a matching black cardigan casually tied around the shoulders with a slim midcalf black suede skirt-its three tiers of fringe swinging and swaying with every step. It`s just such quirky, dramatic or unanticipated twists given to an old sportswear theme that make these new twins fashionable.
