New York City is one of the fashion capitals of the world, and as such hosts an annual—and highly anticipated—fashion week. This year, from September 10 to September 17, in multiple locations throughout Manhattan, New York Fashion Week (NYFW) held fashion shows featuring the collections of some of the most internationally acclaimed designers, including sneak peeks into their Spring 2016 collections.
This year there were runway shows by designers such as Betsey Johnson, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, J. Mendel, Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, Rachel Zoe, Victoria Beckham, Rag & Bone, Tory Burch, Vera Wang, Mara Hoffman, Rebecca Minkoff, and many more.
Technology had a large influence in NYFW this year. For the first time since 2007, Mercedes-Benz stepped down as the sponsor, and Intel stepped up to take their place, a shift in power that prompted many new technology-inspired trends. Drones were used to capture new perspective of the shows, and designers used technology in some of their pieces. In the line Zac Zac Posen, for example, the classic little black dress had a twist: it boasted LED lights. Ralph Lauren was also a participant in the use of technology, as they live-streamed their fashion show to London.
Traditionally, NYFW takes place in the Lincoln Center, but this year numerous locations across Manhatan were used as sites for this year’s shows, such as Milk Studios, The Gallery at Skylight Clarkson Square, 59 Chelsea Piers, The Dock, and Skylight at Moynihan Station.
Fashion is characterized by risk, and this year in New York many designers upheld this expectation. Marc Jacobs drew beauty inspiration from the looks boasted the morning after a party; the makeup was very edgy, and surprisingly they did not use any concealer or foundation, instead sweeping Vaseline and eye shadow under the eyes. Betsey Johnson was another designer that took an untraditional route, as the makeup used in her show was extremely edgy and posed stark contrast to the girly vibes of her pieces.
In Moda Presidents Kate Newhouse ’18 and Haley Williams ’18 shared their opinions on New York Fashion Week. When asked about her opinion on Marc Jacobs’ inspiration, Newhouse gushed, “I thought it looked good, personally! Even though it was morning after a party, it was almost ready to wear. I thought they did very innovative things this year. They used simple silhouettes, but it was simple with an edge.”
On the topic of breaking rules in fashion, Williams said, “That’s my favorite thing about fashion. Even at Choate, I like standing out! I don’t want to blend in, ever. If you can do that on a really large scale, like in fashion week, that is a lot of respect.”
NYFW was an eventful, exciting week that broke boundaries, strayed from the norm, raised eyebrows, and put on quite an alluring show.
