NEW YORK – From runway fashions to celebrity-packed events, here’s what’s happening Tuesday at New York Fashion Week.
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ZAC POSEN HEARTS NAOMI CAMPBELL
What does a runway queen wear? A ruby glitter ballgown, of course.
Naomi Campbell had Zac Posen’s crowd collectively uttering that fashion word of all words – wow – when she closed his Monday night show in the flocked taffeta bustier number against the grandeur of Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal.
Compared to a sea of muted greys, blues and blacks on other runways- and the gloom of winter’s deep freeze – Posen’s show of colour was a welcome sight. It included a range of reds, emerald green, plum, burnt orange and sparkly disco silver in a column gown done up in bugle beads that glistened under the hall’s stately chandeliers.
And Campbell wasn’t the only royalty in the house. Rihanna selfied with Lee Daniels and sat front row with Mary J. Blige, while Christina Hendricks and Coco Rocha beamed from their prime seats. Uzo Aduba and Katie Holmes were also among Posen’s guests.
Of the runway, Posen said in a backstage interview he was looking to mix and match his muses for fall. He worked in stretch jersey, included more day looks and ran with a ’70s vibe in sparkle. And there was mink, in scarves tied close to the neck, a coat and a bright orange top paired with a long loose skirt of a similar shade.
“We wanted more fluidity on the runway. I was feeling the glamour of Grace Kelly meets the spice of Chaka Khan. I draped most of the collection myself, on weekends. In my quiet moments,” the affable designer said.
So what’s on Posen’s mind for the Oscars? It’s not all about the red carpet.
“I’m a big film geek,” he smiled, declaring his love for “Birdman.”
“I don’t believe in pushing hard for red carpets. Getting something on a red carpet shouldn’t have to be a notch every awards show,” he said.
What else might be up for Posen? There’s a documentary in the works about his life. And the avid home chef who delights followers on Instagram with his recipes and hashtag of CookingwithZac may just do a cookbook. He likes thinking up new recipes in the same way he likes taking fabric to a mannequin.
“Finding your ingredients is like finding a great fabric,” he said. “Both are sensual in the same way.”
-Leanne Italie
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A COLD BEER — AND ’90s COOL — AT RAG & BONE
Let no one underestimate the power of a cold beer and some spicy nuts to raise the spirits of a weary Fashion Week crowd. Often an 8 p.m. show feels like one too many on a freezing day, but the mood inside Rag & Bone’s Fall/Winter show Monday night felt truly jovial. Did we mention they were offering beer?
As for the clothes, designers David Neville and Marcus Wainwright channeled a ’90s vibe with lots of layering, including interesting combos like a slip dress over skintight trousers with a huge parka on top. Colors were bright – especially a nice “spicy orange” – and there was a refreshing “anything goes with anything” vibe.
Especially noticeable were satiny slips (silk charmeuse, actually) in all sorts of styles – slip dresses, slip skirts, even a slip jumpsuit. These came in luscious colours like licorice and chocolate.
The designers, whose guests included actor Dylan McDermott, dancer Lil Buck and of course Vogue editor Anna Winter, also used innovative projections on the room’s massive walls, covering up windows on one side and showing constantly alternating angles of the show in progress. There were close-up runway shots, long-distance shots, and most enticingly, inside-the-wings peeks at models getting primped just before being ushered onto the catwalk.
Shoes came in fun colours like bright yellow and orange, and included Mary Janes and comfy loafers. Parkas were huge and inviting, especially given the weather. All in all a very user-friendly show – and, did we mention the beer?
-Jocelyn Noveck
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THOM BROWNE: MOURNING BECOMES HIM
If you’re going to be in mourning, you might as well wear something to die for.
That was the theory behind Thom Browne’s darkly beautiful fashion show, and we do mean dark – every item was black. And if you were close enough to see the intricate fabric work and tailoring on his 40 mourning outfits, you knew instantly that no funeral could possibly be this exquisite.
And that’s even before you got to the models’ heads, which bore the audaciously creative handiwork of star milliner Stephen Jones.
But before the mourning came the death. Browne placed his story in an old-fashioned, wood-paneled operating theatre, perhaps in the 18th century. The audience, which included singer Nicki Minaj, sat in what felt like church pews, looking down. On three gurneys lay three young women, all in white. Each was attended by two doctors, who examined them, not sadly but with a sense of caring, for some 30 minutes before the show actually started.
Then, a chord in the music signalled the doctors to begin their transformation. They removed their medical coats to reveal jackets with angel’s wings on the backs. As snow started to fall, the angels slowly escorted their corpses, now sitting up and facing heaven – these women had died of broken hearts, you see – out of the theatre.
And then came their fashionable friends, one by one, in their mourning attire: capes, coats, jackets and cardigans, skirts and dresses – in lace, cashmere, mohair, flannel, silk, satin and everything else you could think of, with intricately detailed embroidery and Browne’s impeccable tailoring, of course.
Browne is known for huge theatrical productions like this, and perhaps his best was his recent spring/summer collection, featuring a fairytale (by Browne) narrated by Diane Keaton. Monday evening’s show could have perhaps used just a bit of narration or explanation, but the craftsmanship on view needed none at all.
To die for, indeed.
-Jocelyn Noveck
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VERA WANG’S WORLD OF BLACK
Global fashion giant Vera Wang is known for a lot of things. Black clothes are one of them. So how does she keep the mainstay colour fresh?
“I don’t think it’s challenging to make black contemporary,” Wang said Tuesday backstage after her show of mostly, you guessed it, black.
“I think there’s too much black in contemporary, and I love black. … but I think to make black look elevated is a much bigger challenge because there is so much black clothing, particularly for fall. So to try and create black on a more, you know, couture level of sewing and detailing, and that it be visible and representational of that level of sewing, is a challenge. No question.”
She wasn’t the only designer to lean heavily on black. Thom Browne and Alexander Wang went to the dark side as well.
On Vera Wang’s runway, details did make the difference. She sent out rainboots with towering high heels, used a flash of under-white at the seam of a long dress – and again on the under-hem of a bubble coat – and put hand-sewn petals on vinyl, corset lace-ups on several pieces and canvas straps on a velvet gown.
Vera’s world of black included an oversized cashmere fisherman’s sweater, a cotton men’s shirt with big felted wool sleeves and silver sequins, and a vinyl wrap miniskirt with black sequin flowers.
It also came with a touch of ivory for a crepe shift dress with asymmetrical draped sleeves that carried into other pieces.
Like other designers, Wang wouldn’t discuss the upcoming Oscars red carpet, because she doesn’t know anything yet! But, after all these years, she still sweats out celebrity dressing.
“Yes. I stress about everything. There’s pretty much nothing I don’t stress about, you know, but that kind of comes with the turf, I think, for us designers today because everything that you show reflects on your brand.”
-Leanne Italie and Nicole Evatt
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