A NYFW Prelude
Written by Laila Musleh
Graphics by Maggie Zeng
Fashion Week, the biannual holy grail of the fashion industry, in which buyers, editors, and all industry insiders and enthusiasts collectively find their way into the great capitals of the world, once again hit the streets of New York City. New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is set against a historical backdrop of the New York Public Library and the Guggenheim Museum. Rodarte, Tia Adeola, Heron Preston, and Elena Velez are a few of the many remarkable names and houses that graced the floors of fashion week this season.
The AW23 collections were a marriage of the wearable and whimsical. While designers like LaQuan Smith presented straight-to-the-closet pieces, Rodarte brought drama and storytelling into their designs. Nonetheless, this season introduced new definitions and shifts in the fashion industry; a foreshadowing of what’s to come.
Rodarte transformed the chaos of New York City into a gothic wonderland brimming with suspense and mystery. Spectators of the show were seated at silverized tables with candelabras and sparkling fruits leaving them in a dark and distorted fantasy. Models ambled down the runway in dark-colored gowns, with arresting winged eyeliner and black lipstick. While the silhouettes worn were simple, Rodarte brought complexity through the structure and puffiness of the sleeves. Some models were veiled in black, purple, or blue bonnets and scarves, and carried bouquets of yellow tulips. Ironically, yellow tulips symbolize cheerfulness and hope, establishing a juxtaposition with the eeriness of the show.
After presenting her SS23 collection in her hometown of Lagos, Nigeria, Tia Adeola returned to New York to present her AW23 collection. Adeola employed nudity and modesty in her designs through creative formatting of cuts and sheerness. While aiming to fashion mystery and subtleness in the pieces, sexual boldness was undeniable to the eye. One model walked down in a solid white dress that covered the chest; the front of this piece emphasized modesty, while the back was sheer lace exposing the defined back of the model’s body. Adeola designs pieces that push spectators to appreciate the artistry in the clothing and the way the fabric conforms to the body, rather than focus on the body beneath.
Inspired by the culture of the city, Heron Preston culminated a collection that is familiar to the local New Yorker. Similar to Rodarte, Preston employed performance art to nurture a unique atmosphere throughout the show. A man drew a white line on bare concrete and ‘decor’ was a collection of industrial cardboard, an empty soap bottle, and other items deemed as trash Preston collected himself. The accompanying collection included sweatpants paired with heels, utility vests worn over hoodies, bralettes, and mini skirts layered over catsuits, long silk skirts dressed down with moto jerseys, and corsets under long faux fur jackets, all accessorized with balaclavas and carabines-ornamented handbags. This collection celebrated the colorful characters of the City. Preston’s objective was to connect with the polarizing go-with-the-flow patterns of the young generations. In a way, he is redefining what is presumed as high-end and amplifying young voices in the industry.
Elena Velez delivered a multisensory show, live industrial music orchestrated in the background as models walked the runway embodying ‘female rage’. The collection was rooted in contemporary American fashion, specifically inspired by blue-collar workwear. The inclusion of corset dresses, sheerness, bagginess, imperfect cuts, and latex and paint finishes brought urgency, functionality, and practicality onto the runway, traits often identified in the average workwear. Through this, she pursued unconventional femininity. The stoic appearance and zombified attitude of the models challenged the gender norms and stereotypes often found in workspaces and beyond. Each design reclaimed the patriarchal power placed onto said workwear and introduced it to matriarchal power. A link between femininity and dominance was established; It’s a redefining of what society deems feminine and/ or masculine.
To some, fashion is considered frivolous. It’s imagined to be an expensive space of pretty dresses on pretty bodies, strutting down runways lined with pretty people. However, if they delved deeper into the shows and presentations, if they looked closer at the singular pieces, and if they interacted with the creatives behind the artistry, it’s evident that the start of NYFW marks the death of old trends and attitudes, and the end of NYFW marks a new dawn on the horizon; new criticisms and sentiments beacon the future of fashion.
The theme of this year’s NYFW was focused on the conversations of our time. Fashion can no longer depend on looking into the past and holding onto traditional sensitivities. High-end. Luxury. Designer. All terms alluding to prestige and wealth, are being redefined. Collections similar to Heron Preston’s and Elena Velez’s are challenging the time-honored standard of high-end fashion. Once centered around elitist definitions of ‘exclusivity’ and ‘perfection’, has now been replaced with imperfection, functionality, and gender fluidity found in the everyday world. Ten years ago, a collection featuring sweatpants on a runway would have been panned. Today, it’s an unquestioned reality. With that, the common citizen is centered in this season’s designs; the trends and modes of the outside world are guiding the industry into its future.