Kendall Jenner made her triumphant return to New York Fashion Week, walking in a show that paid homage to previous American styles in a new and interesting way.
On Friday, Sept. 6, the model and reality television star arrived at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City to walk in the Alaïa fashion show. When arriving, Jenner wore a simple white crop top, long black shorts, a leather black jacket and black shades.
She then walked in the show (and with Rihanna in the audience, so talk about pressure!) wearing a '90s-inspired, beige tube top paired with black parachute-like pants, black sandals and a black oversized bag.
The show was the first to be hosted by the Guggenheim Museum in its 85-year-history, according to Women's Wear Daily, which made Jenner's return to the NYFW runway all the more special.
Her appearance in the show was also appropriate as it matched what designer Pieter Mulier aimed to do on night one of New York Fashion Week, which was to offer "his take on American sportswear twisted in the Alaïa way," the publication reports.
“We looked a lot at the history of American fashion and what it used to be,” Mulier told the publication prior to the show. “I collect a lot of American designers, so we looked a lot at the American way of dressing. Everything is stretch or hangs on the body.
“It was very interesting for us because we are normally a brand that’s very zipped up, very buttoned up and all about the waists," Mulier continued. "It was not an easy thing but the body was still respected in the way we designed the collection."
Jenner shared both a photo and a video of herself walking the Alaïa runway on her Instagram Stories.
Jenner has been absent from New York Fashion Week for some time, telling Elle back in 2019 that it is simply "more mellow to go" as a member of the audience than a runway model.
"I used to get really nervous during fashion shows," she told the publication at the time. "I feel like when you’re walking on the runway—I say this from experience—you’re just thinking, 'Walk straight! Walk straight!'—and you try to just focus on that. Especially me, because I used to get really nervous when I knew people in the audience. I would try and force myself to zone out."
She went on to say that eventually she got "better at it," and, as a result, was able to actually "peek over to see who's in the audience before I come out."
"But it took a little while to get to that point," she added.
