Preppy with a twist at New York Fashion Week
A historic Oyster Bar show at Grand Central Terminal kicked off New York Fashion Week.
The fashion month circus has kicked off once more, with all-American brand Tommy Hilfiger making a grand return to New York Fashion Week.
Of his return to the Big Apple, following a world tour of shows in Paris, Shanghai, London and more, the sprightly 72 year-old designer told reporters backstage “New York is home. It felt like it was time to commit to New York Fashion Week fully.”
Staging the first fashion show in New York’s famed Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station, was a signal of intent. The collection offered elevated versions of the crisp and preppy wardrobe staples the brand is known for - cable knit jumpers, varsity jackets - this time with a little more give - as well as a masterclass in how to layer them all together at once.
Preppiness, never far from the zeitgeist, has made a return, albeit with a twist, in recent seasons. As relevant to the revamp of preppy mainstay JCrew as it is in newer American brands such as Bode and British brands like JW Anderson offering cool and fresh takes on such WASPy staples as rugby stripes and polo shirts. Thom Browne, a welcome returnee to the New York Fashion Week line-up, is another designer to put a kinky little spin on prep with his signature schoolboy grey shorts.
New York Fashion Week tends to be, like the city that never sleeps, a melting pot of styles and ideas.
Here you can find emerging brands such as Eckhaus Latta, whose body positive mantra infiltrates its sexy collections (cut-outs and sheer knitwear ahoy), the minimalist, monochromatic and often-times oversized and body swaddling cool of cult label Khaite - a favourite of celebrities such as Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner - and the sugar girlishness of cult label Sandy Liang.
For after-all, who says you can’t wear bows in your hair and Peter Pan collars for the day, and a slick leather blazer with power shoulders and oversized lapels for the evening (or indeed whenever one means business).
While there are still plenty of blockbuster brands on the schedule this year, such as Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Carolina Herrera, that other purveyor of the American Dream, Ralph Lauren is a noticeable absentee following a knock-out show last season.
It’s interesting to note too that the relaunch of the once quintessential New York Brand, Donna Karan, came around New York Fashion Week timing. The campaign for the revived brand is fronted by the likes of ultimate ‘supers’ Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Shalom Harlow, Carolyn Murphy and more, and was lensed by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The new collection pays tribute to Donna Karan’s pioneering ‘Seven Easy Pieces’ mode of dressing she launched in 1985 with the idea of making busy working women’s lives easier.
“So many women find assembling the right clothes bewildering today,” Karan told a reporter at the time. “They’ve discovered fast ways to put food on the table, but they do not know how to get their wardrobes together easily.”
Honestly, the same questions vex women today.
Which is why it’s pleasing to see the likes of Proenza Schouler, which last year celebrated 20 years in the fashion business, offering versatile pieces such as its funnel neck tops that add a certain polish and pizazz when worn with a blazer or well-cut trousers or to understand that sometimes you need a knock-em-dead red dress. Meanwhile at buzzy newcomer FFORME new takes on classics were offered, such as the re-cutting the jacket to create a new shape without lapels.
As creative director Paul Helbers told Vogue Runway, “We kind of reduced [the jacket] to the minimum.” The shapes Helbers works with - curves and caresses to the body - were imbued with new draping techniques that Helbers does himself out of his Paris studio. The result is exceedingly chic pieces such as a cocoon coat and a stand-out draped and ruched dress in emerald green.
Extreme chicness, by way of a rich country club mum who definitely keeps a horse at a stable, could be found at Altuzarra, which this year celebrating its 15th anniversary. Here there were little details that make an outfit feel special - the frill of a collar, gold buttons down a cream double-breasted coat, bugle beads and pleats on a tuxedo shirt, an interesting hat.
“I wanted it to feel like walking into someone’s wardrobe that they’ve collected over a long period of time, where things feel like they say something about the person’s personality,”Altuzarra told reporters backstage.
Demi Moore was the star attraction at Carolina Herrera, fresh from her role as one of the saddest swans (Ann Woodward) in the blockbuster series Feud: Capote Versus the Swans. Perched front row in a houndstooth skirt suit Moore, and the elegant ruffles and cocktail dresses models sashayed down the runway in, embodied the elegance Truman’s swans were known for.
All of it is reminder that whether you have a true capsule wardrobe of tried-and-true basics, or special pieces you’ve collected over time, a cocktail dress that you wear for the ultimate confidence boost, the essential thing is that you wear everything you own. Especially when it reveals a little something about who you are.
Still to show on the New York Fashion Week schedule is Gabriela Hearst, Michael Kors, Thom Browne and Brandon Maxwell. Fashion month will continue in London before heading to Milan and Paris.
