And just like that… New York Fashion Week came to an end
As Candy Pratts Price, former Vogue Editor, said: ‘September is the January of fashion’. And she’s not wrong.
September is the ‘back-to-school’ moment for fashion houses and designers, an occasion to show off the summer glow-up and to announce to the world that it’s time to get down to business.
What better way to do so than the most fashionable week in the Big Apple? Streets crowded with celebrities, models and VIPs, all reunited for this unmissable event.
And before attention is drawn to the rest of Fashion Month (Milan and Paris will follow up shortly), NYFW’s highlights definitely deserve some time and analysis. Shall we?
Each fashion brand that presented its collection for SS24 had its own distinctive personality, but we can still find and follow the fil rouge that run through every show.
Delicate silhouettes and transparencies meet more structured and oversized cuts, in an ongoing dialogue between feminine and masculine that ends in the grounds of genderless-ness.
Coach officially opens the floor as designer Stuart Vevers marks his ten years at the brand. Though well-known as a house of leather, Vevers introduced softer fabrics and experimented in the textile land. Nonetheless, leather remains the star of the show, seen in oversized blazers, lingerie and even slip-dresses, a perfect go-to for the summer seeing how versatile it is in his collection.
Ralph Lauren returns to Fashion Week for the first time since 2019, and even though the fashion world has been radically evolving since then, the brand made it clear what their place in the fashion landscape is. After all, it has been around since 1967 and it is one of the first brands that comes to mind when talking about the American Dream.
And so we start with the most American fabrics of all, denim. Only this time it’s embellished with delicate flower prints, lined with chiffon and tulle, and embroidered with sequins.
A triumph of gold and bright colors give edginess to classic and timeless tailoring and silhouettes.
Tory Burch has always been synonym for effortless and chic. This collection we follow models as they walk through the new wing of the American Museum of Natural History. Its high and towering ceilings are built like a canyon, and it almost feels like we are in outer space thanks to the luminous windows. The location choice was perfectly in line with the brand, as Tory Burch herself said she liked the idea of clothing that ‘frees up your mind’.
Draped skirts and structured blazers make for a comfortable yet impeccable look, as clothes are not made to complicate our life, but to make it easier (and more playful).
With Michael Kors we are transported to a hot and summer beach location… only surrounded by the jungle of Brooklyn buildings. ‘I can’t take you all to Capri but I can take you all to Brooklyn’. And so he did, presenting the collection on a terrace overlooking Domino Park. The bad weather held off just for one morning, enough for the guests to enjoy the view and the opulent display of pink bougainvillea.
Neutrals seem the way to go for next summer: crisp white looks for daytime strolls followed by sexy eveningwear, nude sweaters to casually throw on after the beach (even though, let’s be honest, there’s never anything casual about fashion).
And finally, Helmut Lang. This was undeniably one of the most awaited shows this year: its new era with Peter Do as creative director started, and we got a first glance at what the next collections will be like.
Do has some pretty big shoes to fill, will he live up to his predecessor’s work? That’s still too early to say, but for now it’s clear his willingness to follow the trail left by Helmut Lang himself.
Minimalism has always been the distinctive trait for the brand, and this collection makes no exception, though Peter Do put his own twist to it. Pink and yellow stripes resemble seat-belts, and bold prints recite a delicate Ocean Vuong’s poem: ‘Your car was my first room / Our clothes on the floor like stepped-on flowers’.
