You know something has changed when the biggest celebrity is not just in the front seat but also walking the runway in jellies at a fashion show. New York Fashion Week was back in full swing after two years of viewing it on a screen. Now it can be easy to scratch your head and wonder why a fashion show matters so much. Yet after 20 months of isolation and mainly dressing for the kitchen table, this is now, perhaps more than ever in recent memory, a time when the question of what to wear next has real currency. And our favorite brands delivered.
Like the return of Broadway, the return of the U.S. Open, and the return of the Met Gala, touted as a great thing, NYFW represented a part of the vaccine-required re-emergence of New York.
Seeing Tommy Hilfiger, Micheal Kors, Tory Burch, and others back and reinventing themselves for their new target customer was the highlight for me. The brands bring their A-game to make them relevant again, whether through a live show by the pop-punk icon Travis Barker while the model strutted or styled an omnipresent item: the bra top.
Designers did not shy away from flashing underwear. From sheer dresses to intentional butt-crack peekaboo moments or in silver sequins under a white tuxedo in a Michael Kors Collection full of lacy dance dresses and shoulder-baring necklines. “People want to show off their bodies,” Mr. Kors said. “Whether they are 20 or 70, size 2 or size 22. They want to feel good about themselves!” At first, I thought it was quite the juxtaposition that we saw lots of skin on the runway this season, but the more I looked at attendees and shows, I noticed that we’re leaning into being more naked.
When brands come back from hiatus, it is often expected to come back with a bang, and it was no different. The effort to stay relevant and be on top of trends that appeal to their new customer is prominent. Yet, I am not sure this change in aesthetic is sustainable for brands like Tory Burch, which built their reputation of pristine tailoring and relatively modest clothing, but as we move forward, the question remains, can these big brands continue reinventing themselves for us?
Words by Rhea Gupta.
Graphics by Aarushi Menon.