New York Fashion Week was equal parts celebrity and sophistication on Tuesday, with runway shows that included a collection by red carpet favourite Naeem Khan and a new line by Serena Williams.
Here are some of the highlights from the day:
From grand slam to grand fashion
Fresh off her third straight US Open win, Serena Williams took on New York Fashion Week with her first runway show, as a celebrity crowd that included Vogue editor Anna Wintour watched from the front row.
“It means a lot... I mean, she’s Anna Wintour at the end of the day, fashion’s queen,” said a beaming Williams. “I hope she enjoys it.”
The tennis champ said she was working on the collection, a mix of casual and dress clothes for the shopping network HSN, even while she was mowing down competitors at the US Open — casting models and choosing their looks. She was inspired by couture shows like Dior, but with a toned down vibe, she said.
“Sometimes you go to fashion shows and none of it is really realistic. You can take it off the models and you can go out and wear it so that is what we wanted to showcase,” Williams said.
The looks included a sleeveless long sweatshirt with the letter “S” on the front, zippered slinky mini-dresses, pants with a leopard print similar to the dress she wore during her US Open run, faux fur jackets and jersey-knit dresses.
She captured the title on Sunday by defeating good friend Caroline Wozniacki, who showed up at Tuesday’s show to support Williams. Williams said she planned to return the favour by coming back to New York when Wozniacki is scheduled to run the New York City Marathon in November.
Naeem Khan’s fashion oops
A king of brilliant and bejewelled red-carpet dressing, Naeem Khan mixed his signature sparkle with gowns of sporty stripes on Tuesday at New York Fashion Week.
He had a single oops moment — for most women, anyway — in a shorty short outfit of open red panels that exposed an intrepid model’s thonged backside.
Khan rolled out the dazzle in silver, gold and a starburst of white in a beaded cocktail dress. There were shiny satins in kelly green and sunny yellow in several styles.
For that Hollywood moment when only mega-watt gold will do, Khan provided a fully sequined, body-skimming gown, flaired at the bottom with an open, sexy back.
Rodriguez gets his inspiration from his craft
Narciso Rodriguez doesn’t need one of those crazy designer themes — like a type of animal, or an obscure artwork, or a long-ago historical event — to inspire his fashion collections.
He simply wants to make nice clothes.
“I just want to make very covetable, beautiful things,” he said backstage after presenting his spring 2015 collection on Tuesday night.
His speciality is beautifully cut, sleek, handsome, minimally embellished garments, and his collection didn’t disappoint. It began with black and white: a crepe dress with black tank top and white skirt, a black trouser with a black and white “scuba harness” back, a long black and white jacket covering black kimono silk slip dress.
Then it moved into colours, like a striking combination of pink, orange and black in a tank dress.
The designer also featured a series of dresses embellished with squiggly embroidered stripes in a variety of colours. And there were appealing tweeds, like a black tank dress with a black and white tweed bodice, or a coloured tweed bodice on a white bonded crepe dress.
Rodriguez described the workmanship that went into these pieces as complex. “The more complicated the better, right?” he said with a grin. He added: “I just love the process — the craft.” For Rodriguez, that’s all the inspiration he needs.
Badgley Mischka celebrates silver anniversary with golden Naomi
Badgley Mischka celebrated its 25th year with a New York Fashion Week show that featured their signature sumptuous gowns and a queen of glamour — Naomi Campbell.
The supermodel joined Mark Badgley and James Mischka briefly on the runway on Tuesday, amid cascading silver balloons, as the duo celebrated their silver anniversary together. The brand is known for delicate, dazzling dresses, and delivered that once again for its spring collection.
Ruffles were a recurring theme, including a beige jacket with two layers off it, and they also appeared on other looks. And even the more sedate looks were stunners, including a silvery sleek beaded dress with beaded belt to match.
Backstage, Campbell stood alongside the designing duo and joked about her first show with them.
“I just remember the first and now James just told me that I was in a black jumpsuit which, actually, I would like to see if I could get into again. We should bring it out and see if I could fit into it,” she said.
Badgley: “You could.”
Mischka: “You could. She’s more gorgeous than ever isn’t she?”
Sheer luxury in every way at Oscar de la Renta
There was lots to see on the runway at Oscar de la Renta’s Fashion Week show on Tuesday evening. But you were even luckier if you could see into the wings.
There, the 82-year-old master designer sat on a chair and looked intently at a monitor as he supervised the movements of each model travelling down the runway. At the end, he emerged smiling — with supermodel Karlie Kloss on one arm — to take a bow. As for his spring 2015 collection, it had all the sumptuous, rich detail that de la Renta delivers every time. And the designer seemed happy to show some skin, with a number of his lacy skirts and gowns revealing the entirety of the models’ endless legs, and occasionally more.
The designer began with more casual designs, pairing a large buffalo check print, in pink, light blue or black, with more delicate looks such as a white lacy skirt.
He got fancier as he progressed. An ivory organza embroidered dress was beautifully embellished with hand-painted flowers and ostrich feathers. Another dress, in white tulle, was covered with crystal and ostrich-feather embroidery.
De la Renta’s three final looks were all in a bright key lime green, with Kloss closing down the show in a glamorous ivory silk gown, shorter in front, with green organza leaf embroidery.
Marc by Marc Jacobs puts on NY Fashion Week rave
The designer’s more moderately priced line, threw a seizure-inducing rave on Tuesday complete with multicoloured light show and T-shirts declaring a “New World System”.
The line is steered by Brits Katie Hillier, the creative director, and Luella Bartley, who heads design. For spring this New York Fashion Week, they went for teased 1980s punk hair and black latex leggings, along with supple plastic jackets and other pieces with blue polka dots fit for the average grunge fashionista.
And they pieced together patchworks of solids on one side of garments with mixed layers of pleats on the other in solid yellow topped by dark dots. It came in dresses and other looks.
Some outfits were in a slippery nylon for the brand skewing younger than the designer’s primary Marc Jacobs line. Itsy bitsy bralettes were worn over cropped shirts.
For the rest of us, there were hooded coats and flight jackets in solid beiges and whites. One trenchcoat in white could be worn every day.
That last part wasn’t so true for a backless army-style top in black paired with black ninja trousers.
Quick quote
“We are happy in general with New York so far, but it’s not over yet, we are still doing counts. We’ve got three, four other countries to go, so we always do the count at the end.” — Naomi Campbell on the diversity of women featured on the runways. The supermodel was an outspoken critic on the lack of women of colour on the runway in past seasons.
