Anna Sui, Coach, Rodarte, Jonathan Simkhai, Ulla Johnson
(Picture: Imaxtree)Fashion returned to the Big Apple with a bang this week, as the city’s creatives presented their visions for autumn/winter 2023 on a six-day schedule of runway shows.
The venues were impressive (hello New York Public Library! Hello Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum!), as were the guest lists, which saw everyone from Katie Holmes and Irina Shayk to Nicky Hilton, Julia Fox, Jourdan Dunn and Sienna Miller take their seats front row.
The clothes themselves did not disappoint, and ranged from fairy fantasy at Rodarte, to club kid cool at Dion Lee and everyday elegance from the likes of Ulla Johnson, Tory Burch and Proenza Schouler. Here are a few of the key trends to know…
Animal madness
The natural world is never too far from a designer’s moodboard, but the presence of the animal kingdom on this week’s runways roared louder than ever. Prabal Gurung’s show supersized butterfly wings as graphic prints on dresses and shirts, while Dion Lee honed in on a theme of serpent scales - “second skin, shedding of skin, snake, unravelling, scale, helix, infinity” as read the show notes - via snakeskin club-ready minis, thigh-high boots and interlocking scale-like chainmail belts, bags and body bling.
At Area’s somewhat bonkers fruit-themed show flies buzzed unsettlingly on the loudspeaker while models (wearing giant melon dresses or crop tops made of sequin bananas) wore headdresses resembling swarms of black flies. It was however eco label Collina Strada’s show that really upped the animal anti. Models, among them Ella Emhoff and Tommy Dorfman, hit the runway dressed in photo-realistic fur prints and with prosthetic animal faces. Some wore fluffy bunny ears or had knit tails flowing from suiting, while others had been transformed into dolphins or dogs. Barking.
Lashings of leather
Is leather a trend? Did it ever really go away? Perhaps not, but certainly its prevalence on runways and among the street style set has exploded in the last year. And never was that truer than in New York this week, where almost every show featured a top-to-toe leather look of some description. At Coach brown and black floor-skimming leather trenches sat alongside leather maxi skirts with matching cropped jackets. Snakeskin popped up again at Puppets and Puppets, in the form of a sleek green jumpsuit and a matching red biker jacket and trousers, while Proenza Schouler made the case for daytime metallics with gold leather trousers layered under a camel coat, and even leather evening wear, with vast swishing strapless leather gowns in black and red.
Down to business
In these conflicted times, New York’s designers have a renewed focus on our functional, everyday wardrobes; a strategy that both resonates and makes good business sense. At Khaite, some of the sexy silhouettes and embellishments of last season made way for muted, practical capsule pieces, while at Jonathan Simkhai and Jason Wu, oversized suiting was the dish du jour. Even queen of fringe frenzy boho Ulla Johnson did office-ready suiting for the first time and swapped floor sweeping maxis for sensible button front midi skirts, while organza ballgown aficionado Carolina Herrera sent out a single model in shirt, cigarette pants and jaunty black tie - a welcome palette cleanser among the explosions tulle.
The cool girl nightie
For those not office bound, slinky 90s negligee has been co-opted by the cool girls. Foremost among them our very own Alexa Chung, who arrived at the Rodarte show on Friday wearing a gorgeous green lace-trimmed silk bed-ready midi from the brand which she toughened up with a black leather trench and Saint Laurent’s slick vinyl knee-high boots. On the runways, Anna Sui’s 90-inspired ode to nightclubbing featured metallic lace-trim babydoll minis and lacey cami and shorts sets. Paired with black fishnets and lace opera gloves the mood was definitely more night out than nightie.
