NEW YORK, Sep 14, 2003/ FW/ --- One of the joys of attending fashion week is finding a new designer who is truly innovative and unafraid to take chances.

Such is the case with Dres, designed by Andres Throckmorton Stickney, a Ralph Lauren and Hussein Chalayan veteran who debuted his women's ready to wear collection this season at the Times Square Studio.

The former graphic artist launched his label in October 2002 as an accessory line, and for the Spring 2004 New York season, Dres has become a full-pledged womenswear line.

The opening garment - a mud brown cotton stretch evening dress with black ethnic print with a keyhole in front showing the navel, set the tone for the collection.

The prints which was based largely on African designs were created with the batik-making techniques of Indonesia.

Creatively incorporating rubber into the various pieces, Andres Throckmorton Stickney merged two worlds of fashion - tribal fashion and street wear.

Nylon mesh, rubber and teflon were mixed with traditional fabric such as cotton, organza, and wool.

Using bold prints and solid blues, browns and oranges, the collection was a little darker than a general spring/summer fashion. But the designs worked well and were both interesting and surprising.

The use of rubber to accent or even replace cloth was unexpected but created a lovely and interesting effects.

And because the rubber was perforated it looked as if it should cool the skin rather than stifle it.

Show highlights included a light rust dress with black rubber accents that was simply beautiful, a perforated rubber jacket that looked fantastic and perforated rubber pants perfect for clubbing.

While the Dres collection isn’t clothing for every day use, the fashions within are great to accentuate a wardrobe.

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