Gothic Rodarte, Collina Strada Animal, at New York Fashion Week Opener
Gothic at Rodarte, animal at Collina Strada: two universes opened New York Fashion Week on Friday, February 10, sparsely supplied with big names in fashion but full of young designers and emerging signatures, its trademark now.
>> Most of the big names absent from New York Fashion Week
>> Psychedelic Collina Strada on the first day of New York Fashion Week
>> New York Fashion Week kicks off, still affected by COVID
| A model prepares for the Collina Strada show at New York Fashion Week on February 10. |
| Photo: AFP/VNA/CVN |
The ball of the season “fall-winter 2023“, which will then continue in London, Milan and Paris, kicked off in the middle of the afternoon at Rodarte, the brand of Californian sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, one of the most high-end to make a comeback in the New York calendar.
The two sisters, who had already made a dent in haute couture in Paris, and whose pieces are already in American museums, offered a gothic and mystical spectacle, around a large table with silver tablecloths, crockery and candlesticks, in a landmark building in Brooklyn, the “Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower”.
Black makeup, lips included, the models paraded in dresses of the same color, leaving the bust uncovered or ending in long flared sleeves and more and more ample to the floor.
Our friends the animals
A vampire queen in a huge, majestic winged gown with a shimmering train made an appearance, and there was no shortage of bright colors either, on figure-hugging dresses with an abundance of detail.
A little later, it is in Soho, in Manhattan, in a typical New York building with cast iron architecture, promised to become soon “a cannabis museum“, that Collina Strada presented its new collection.
For several seasons, the brand’s creator, Hillary Taymour, has been making her mark on New York, between slightly off-the-wall and eco-friendly fashion shows, without ever taking herself seriously.
She confirmed it on Friday February 10 with an ode to animals, in a menagerie atmosphere: with many accessories and make-up on her faces, a cat model succeeded one another – who was “meow“in front of a delighted audience”fashionistas” – or a rhinoceros-horned woman.
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| A model prepares before the Collina Strada show at New York Fashion Week on February 10. |
| Photo: AFP/VNA/CVN |
The brand’s streetwear touch is still there, but the colors are less psychedelic, more sober and elegant. Those who like theatrical parades will also enjoy the return to New York – with a parade on Tuesday – of Thom Browne, who succeeds Tom Ford at the head of the American fashion union (CFDA). But the program once again has a number of absentees, such as Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren.
Rihanna au Super Bowl
Quite a symbol, it is at the Super Bowl, in Phoenix on Sunday evening, that the singer Rihanna, who exhibited her Fenty lingerie collections in New York a few years ago, will make her comeback with the halftime concert.
As a result, this fall-winter 2023 ready-to-wear season offers above all an avalanche of young talents and new brands.
This is the case of Elena Velez, 28, designated “emerging designer of the year” at the awards of the CFDA, which made a name for itself by playing on unstructured forms and by incorporating in its creations the craftsmanship of the Midwest, such as metals recalling the industrial heritage of Milwaukee, its birthplace. Around twenty designers on the calendar are under 30 years old.
parade magic
For Elena Velez, the COVID-19 pandemic has created “a renewed desire to live reminds us of the fragility of life and encourages young people like me to be bold in their passions”. A precarious vitality: “To be honest, the lifespan of a young brand is not very long.“, she adds.
Having worked for Dior, Nina Ricci and Oscar de la Renta, and today creative director at Hervé Léger, Dane Christian Juul Nielsen already has years of experience in fashion.
But in 2019 he launched his own brand, Aknvas, hoping “restore all the theatrical side that I received from John Galliano and all the modernity of Raf Simons” at Dior, in collections at less excessive prices than haute couture, he explains. “A fashion show is the ultimate way to show your passion” et “I want to help make the fashion scene in New York attractive”, he adds, before his own which will take place on Monday 13 February.
AFP/VNA/CVN
