Maria Cornejo shows just before twilight way out on the west side of Manhattan very near Port Authority. Getting there feels ... wrong. The venue looks like a parking garage, but then a freight elevator takes audience members in batches of 16 or so up to a surprisingly light-filled room that feels graced with the presence of some ancient Hell's Kitchen mechanic-turned-artist-turned-astral-plane-journyer. The energy is industrious, luminous, wide-open, other-wordly. Graceful.

Zero Maria Cornejo collections always feel sort of gritty and graceful. They tend to always yield a uniform, and she said this one is about clean canvases-"points of departure, a freedom to create something new again."

Jumpsuits that feel like elegant work overalls, shirtdresses that make robes seem right for work, and sleeves that pop softly out the back of structural cocoon jackets as if the thing might become a flying machine, or a reverse parachute: these were rendered in soft cottons, frayed denim, leathers, and custom, sometimes double-faced dimensional fabrics that folded and wrapped.

As always, Cornejo's hand-loomed, organic cotton knitwear and silks were constructed, deconstructed, and totally sumptuous. It's the kind of stuff you want to live in-whether you're making a clean start or revisiting friendly ghosts.

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Zero Maria Cornejo is sold only at our new Vancouver store;
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-Laura Cassidy and Jessa Carter