Stepping Back: 1950s Swimsuits By Kors

He may have been born Karl Anderson Jr, a Jewish boy from Long Island, but the highly successful American designer Michael Kors, who held his show in New York yesterday, has made himself over in more ways than just changing his name. Perhaps second only to Ralph Lauren - another Jewish boy from New York - few designers have venerated the look of wealthy Americans as much as Kors, and so successfully marketed it back to them.

With his sleek but glitzy designs he has become the favorite designer of the upper-crust society mavens of America, generally located in the Hamptons and Palm Beach. He has also achieved a new level of celebrity by becoming the star of a reality TV program, Project Runway.

Kors' designs are at their best when he does the Hamptons look with his tongue gently in his cheek, making the clothes so preppy they can only be parodic. But his show yesterday looked like he was dangerously close to taking himself seriously and, frankly, preppy, when it's done with a straight face, is just boring.

The big blocks of primary colors on coats and knee-length skirts and dresses will no doubt look great in the pages of US Vogue, a great supporter of Kors, but anywhere else they look like traffic lights. The 1950s-style swimsuits were sweet, but can be found at any retro costume shop. Ultimately, despite the liberal use of the word "royal" in the accompanying show notes - "royal black", "royal tracksuit", even - the clothes looked like they came from the high street store Banana Republic.