Talk about a girl squad.
Karlie Kloss opened it, Gigi Hadid closed it, and sprinkled in between Diane von Furstenberg’s New York Fashion Week show on Sunday was the who’s who of the latest crop of supermodels, including Kendall Jenner, Hadid’s sister Bella Hadid, Irina Shyak, Lily Aldridge and Jourdan Dunn.
“I love women at the beginning of their life,” von Furstenberg said when asked why she chose these particular models. “This collection is about celebration of woman, beauty, freedom and nature.”
The show certainly felt like a celebration as celeb attendees including Kate Upton, Victoria Justice and Tori Kelly danced along to music by Drake and The Weeknd, whose hit, Can’t Feel My Face, closed out the show (the pop singer, who is dating Bella Hadid, was also in attendance).
The collection had a 1970s nostalgic feel thanks to metallic golds, mixed prints, jumpsuits and high-waisted suits. You could almost picture von Furstenberg dancing at Studio 54 like the days of old in all of these looks — they’ve just been updated for the modern woman with shades of pink, black embellished with gold detailing and white with pops of colour.
“It’s a lot about the details. It’s about the patching. It’s the freedom. It’s the easiness. It’s [for] a woman to feel like a goddess,” said the famously candid designer. She then added with a laugh: “My daughter says I have no filter. I don’t want to have a filter.”
Von Furstenberg said the collection was inspired by the first painting she ever bought. She debuted her iconic wrap dress in 1974 and says the key to her longevity is reinvention and enjoying the journey.
And the designer certainly seemed to be enjoying it as she danced around the runway, once her show wrapped, greeting friends and smiling the entire time.
Nonconformity becomes uniform at Hood by Air
Shayne Oliver, the adventurous designer behind the dystopian fashion line Hood by Air, said the inspiration for his show was school uniforms. But if you wore any of his outfits to a classroom, you’d likely get kicked out.
There was nothing strait-laced about the looks at Oliver’s show: The very first look was a metallic outfit with strings and fringes that in the back revealed the female models very toned (and bare) backside.
The rest of the show was as untraditional as you would expect from Hood by Air: There were denim looks with rips and zippers, and shirts and pants that were layered with whimsical — and sometimes inexplicable — contrasting insets. There were men with platform shoes and long skirts or dresses; the most conservative looks for this show included a white dress with a criss-cross bandage design that hugged the arms.
“I’m obsessed with uniforms. I really like the principal aspect of it too. That’s the kinky part of it to me,” Oliver said slyly backstage after the show. He said it drew from his West Indian background and the uniforms used in schools despite poor conditions.
While there was an androgynous bent to the collection, he downplayed its significance: “At this point, I’ve sort of dealt with gender issues within my perspective and I just feel like it’s part of the DNA of the family of the brand.”
Among the celebrities on hand were Empire creator Lee Daniels and actor Bryshere Y Gray. There was an Empire influence: A couple of the models dragged what Oliver called the “Cookie” pillow, modelled after the pillow main character Cookie tried to smother Lucious last season.
Daniels raved about the show, and said he’d like to incorporate it in the show:
“I’m 56, and so I know that if it’s over my head, then it belongs on my show, because it’s for America,” he said. “It’s the biggest compliment ever.”
Shoe frenzy at Tracy Reese
In pinks and blues, see-through plastic paired with playful prints, chunky bead embellishment and bonded lace that sparkled under the lights, Sarah Jessica Parker packed a punch in her shoe collaboration with Tracy Reese.
And that was just ON the runway.
The actress, whose Sex and the City shoe queen reputation prevails, put the media and Reese lovers in a front row frenzy as the designer rolled out her spring collection of dainty yellow print dresses, shades of garden green in shorts and jackets and circle overlays in bright white.
“I find myself frequently wearing her designs not only because her dresses are so easy and comfortable, but because I simply love the way she uses colour,” Parker said in a statement announcing the collaboration inspired by the clothes.
Parker and partner George Malkemus III have been doing shoes under the SJP label since February 2014. She last collaborated with a designer, Tome, for fall/winter 2015.
Her Reese shoes, with names that include “Minnie,” ‘’Timmons” and “Skyler,” feature 15 colours and four styles.
But back to the clothes.
Reese offered a little something for a variety of women in breezy, bold-patterned mini dresses and loose trousers in stone, sky blue and green. Parker used the same chunky sparkle embellishments on one shoe style that Reese put on jackets and dresses.
Feminine and colourful is clearly where the two clicked.
Breezy style at Victoria Beckham
Call it an all new Victoria Beckham.
Her latest collection, which debuted on Sunday at New York Fashion Week, is an homage to her “carefree attitude.”
Bohemian flowing tops, skirts and dresses ruled the runway in knits, silk, leather and suede. And this time, no signature sky-high stilettos, but rather flats, kitten heels and sandals.
“It’s been really liberating and easy,” Beckham said about designing the collection.
A fashion-forward gingham pattern also appeared on everything from jackets to skirts to dresses. One couldn’t help but wonder whether her son, Brooklyn, 16, who attended, and has made his own splash in the fashion world modelling for high-end brands, influences his mother’s taste.
“He doesn’t really,” Beckham said as her son looked on during backstage interviews. “He is really supportive. He’s been with me the last few days because he’s here in New York. ... It’s great to have young, fresh and cool people around.”
Husband David smiled proudly while taking in the runway looks. He was of course seated next to his usual front-row buddy: Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Public School dives deeper into womenswear
Co-founders and designers Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow have much to be on edge about this season.
As they push their brand deeper into womenswear they’re also facing down their first turn later in the week as creative directors for DKNY after the departure of Donna Karan from her namesake company. On Sunday, they had the evolving Public School woman on their minds.
“For us to really do our first almost full women’s show made us a little uneasy and took us to a new place,” Osborne explained backstage after the show. “This girl has grown up, this girl has travelled a bit and has come back home. You see her picking up pieces on her travels and coming back home, but she’s always the New York City girl at heart.”
So where has she been in her loose striped trousers of black and white, wrap skirts and sensible chunky sandals in black and white?
“She’s been around the world and back,” Chow said. “She has spent time in Europe and Asia, but ultimately her home is here in New York City. She’s come back with a new perspective, enlightened and liberated in a way. That’s how we felt designing the collection.”
She’s got some great coats and jackets, including a loose trench and short skirts with delicate horizontal stripes of red. She has sheer overlays worn over comfy black pants and the same striped sheer in a flowing, roomy dress and coat set.
Founded as a menswear brand, this is the most revealing Osborne and Chow have allowed themselves to be for women — still modest when compared to other brands.
“It’s the most skin we’ve ever shown. It’s still covered up in a way, but it’s more shoulders, more arm, more leg. That’s something new for us,” Osborne said.
So exactly how much sleep are these two getting, steering their own growing company while taking over at DKNY?
About four to five hours, a smiling Chow estimated.
Added Osborne: “We’re getting enough to survive.”
