New York Fashion Week: Photographers honour Bill Cunningham

When Bill Cunningham passed away in June, his photographic legacy was clear: he set the standard for bright and naturalistic fashion street photography. But his sartorial legacy — his blue worker’s jacket — lives on.

At New York Fashion week, his fellow photographers, in a very sweet sartorial nod, paid tribute to him by wearing ink-blue jackets. As the well-told tale goes, Cunningham purchased the French bleu de travail (or “The Bill”), as it became known, after seeing them at a Paris hardware store during Paris Couture week. He liked the fact it came with four pockets because they could carry extra rolls of film. It cost him £15 (Dh73). With the utility-wear showing no sign of slowing down, The Bill — a sort of mix between a jean jacket and a nehru, with four pockets and a robust look — has become a signature piece of the trend that prizes sartorial anonymity over flashy.