NEW YORK — It’s a wrap for New York Fashion Week, baby.
Celebrities from Lindsay Lohan and Kunta Brunson to the runway and Tik Tok star Julia Fox have taken illegal camera shots and key moments at New York Fashion Week shows.
Alexander Wang’s post-scandal comeback and Christian Siriano’s ode to Audrey Hepburn served as previews a week before the fall/winter 2023 fashion show officially launched with Rodarte on February 10. The latest show of creations of veteran and budding designers. February 15th just ended with newly minted CFDA winner Raul Lopez unveiling his new LUAR collection, but the industry is still abuzz with what just dropped.
We had a front-row seat to the sartorial magic happening in Manhattan (and Brooklyn), including nostalgic nods to fashion’s bygone era and visions of the future of artificial intelligence, plus plenty of star power on the runway and off the plane.
New York Fashion Week Highlights
Seen: The Return of the 90s
Sergio Hudson: Sergio Hudson’s “Collection 11” featured electrifying colors and graffiti, with nods to the 90s by Fran Finn (“The Babysitter”) and Hilary Banks (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”). “I wanted people to feel good when they saw it,” Hudson told USA TODAY.
Alexander Wang: The designer relaunched his menswear line at his pre-New York Fashion Week show.
Son Jung Wan: Son Jung Wan’s “Back to the 90s” collection was a throwback look to the decade with lots of dresses and orange, blue and metallic tones.
Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendt: The “American Icon” collection draws inspiration from various decades of pop culture, including ’60s pop art to ’90s grunge skater aesthetics.
Seen: A New Generation of Celebrity Kids Modeling
Sergio Hudson: Veteran model, businesswoman and fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons took photos on her phone and welcomed daughter Aki Lee Simmons to the front row.
Privacy Policy and Cousteau Barcelona: Fashion photographer and “America’s Next Top Model” alum Nigel Barker and his model wife Kristen showed up in support of daughter Jasmine Barker as she walked the catwalk for Personal Policy’s “We’re All Animals” collection. The family was there to support Jasmine at the colorful show at Cousteau Barcelona.
Luis de Javier: Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon got a little devilish on Valentine’s Day as she modeled a red mini dress with horns.
Heard: Emphasis on the digital world
Fashion writer Francis Sola-Santiago said that the youth is integrating “small trends directly affected by the Internet culture”. And creating a variety of styles from Y2K to Japanese fashion. “If you feel like you’re living in a ‘core’ world,” she said at Pantone and Artechouse NYC’s NYFW panel, “if everything is trending, nothing is trending.”
Creative director, designer and “futurist” Jerome Lamar is looking forward to seeing what Metavas fashion looks like on board. “Young designers can create things that can be transferred from the realm of fashion to the world of the game so that they can be worn in the real world,” he said at the Pantone and Artehaus panel. Lamar added that AI is an “assistance” in fashion, not a replacement.
As a model and computer scientist, AI can push the boundaries of fashion Lear Coll: At the NYFW Talks panel at Spring Studio, Cole introduced the AI supermodel she designed to the audience on “Future Fashion.” Cole said she created Ari “to show that AI won’t take your job.” “We need to focus on how technology pushes the boundaries of creativity, rather than replacing what is human,” she added. Aries, for example, can wear a digital NFT, but a human cannot.
Shown: Color designers show
Prabal Gurung, Sergio Hudson, Tia Adela, Vivienne Tam, Jason Wu, Head of State and Who Decides War? They were among the many brands created by color designers that presented at NYFW. The creators were a mix of international and local talent.
Black Fashion Council; Diotima, CISE, Oak & Acorn, TORLOWEI, Madamette, JEOFROI, Ellaè Lisquè and Rerely Ria presented their collections at the IMG Showroom. Many of the designers had a call back to their roots in the African and Caribbean diaspora.
Marsha Wilson: The Guyanese-American designer showcased her latest collection to the tunes of an all-female jazz band and sipped rum cocktails at New York City’s Hudson Yards Loft. Models in carefully designed afros paraded the new mohair, knits and hand-painted styles, while celebrity model Pat Cleveland closed the show with Wilson as she danced hand-in-hand.
Heard: Designers are keeping things local.
Kalmeier: Most of the collection is handmade in New York, except for some embroidery and leather goods, in Italy.
Diotima: All the threads in the collection come from Jamaica, keeping the fabric and the brand as close to the Caribbean as possible.
Oak and acorn.: “Ninety percent of the collection is made in America, with American fabrics, muttstock and American cotton,” says designer Miko Underwood. It’s something we’re really proud of.
Plein Sports: Plein said of the launch of the Plein Sports line: “I decided to (open) the store two weeks ago. “No, no architect, we painted it. We got a girl from New York, she painted the wall. We painted the floor. We made a bench out of a skateboard and put the stuff on there.”
Seen: All that glitters is not gold – it is silver.
Gold has had its time in the sun over the past several years, but silver seems to be a little flashier on the runways.
Markarian Markarian’s show featured models carefully draped in a Manhattan brownstone corner, but the jewels on the clothes took center stage. Robes were embroidered with silver sequins and pinstripes were decorated with silver stones.
Alexander Wang: Accessories for Alexander Wang’s return to the New York City fashion scene include heavy clutch bags and belt buckles in futuristic silver.
Bibu Mohapatra: The New York-based designer put flowing and elegant clothes in the spring studios; Many of the dresses came in floral patterns made of silver or light blue beads.
Barcelona price: Metallics dominated the Cousteau Barcelona runway, with a collection filled with materials that shimmered in colors and textures. Some pieces were paired with silver boots laden with glittery thread that seemed to run through several fashion week shows.
five to seven; Silver was a central character in Cinq à Sept’s showroom, which included subtle touches of glass and beading and metallic fabrics.
Featured: Collaborations with food and beverage brands
Brand collaborations have entered the fashion week conversation. LUAR and Christian Cowan both presented brand collaborations on the catwalk.
out of LUAR closed NYFW at Faurschou with a stellar collection that included multiple runways inspired by Stella Artois, with a “Steluar” commemorative merchandise post-show open to the public and online for a limited time.
Christian Cowan: Christian Cowan has also partnered with Doritos for a collaboration. The chip brand debuted on the catwalk at Christian Cowan’s show with pieces inspired by the triangular shape of Doritos.
Contributor: Colleen Barry, The Associated Press
