New York Fashion Week, the resilient

Here we go again. After eighteen months of repeated confinements, travel bans and vaccine campaigns, the great ballet of fashion weeks is back in service after having to juggle digital tools, for lack of public parades.

On September 7, New York therefore kicked off the spring-summer 2022 women’s collections, before London, Milan and Paris took over. Severely hit by the Covid-19 crisis, New York is once again showing resilience, a word dear to the Americans, who have commemorated the 20 years of the September 11 attacks these days. American fashion as a whole has been greatly affected by the health crisis, but we are a resilient industry, we will emerge stronger ”, says Steven Kolb, CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, who is delighted with the resumption of the catwalks with catwalks, flashes from photographers and guests.

If some heavyweights of American fashion have defected, preferring to show their collections outside the official calendar – Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren or even Tommy Hilfiger -, others are making their return to the city this season, like the Franco-American Joseph Altuzarra, by Thom Browne, Jeremy Scott for Moschino or Tom Ford.

Altuzarra.

With 91 brands on the calendar, including about fifteen newcomers, this edition seems to have given new life to the creators, who for the occasion have taken over various emblematic places of the city: the Empire State Building for LaQuan Smith, Battery Park, at the tip of Manhattan, for Prabal Gurung, Little Island, the artificial island on the Hudson River and inaugurated in May for Proenza Schouler… Tory Burch has recreated in the heart of Greenwich Village a block party, these traditional neighborhood festivals popular in the 1970s.

Tory Burch

The atmosphere is festive, as emphasized by Joseph Altuzarra, who is making his comeback here in the Big Apple after having preferred Paris to him in recent years. We really feel that people are happy to meet again, to no longer watch parades through interposed screens. The excitement and adrenaline are back! “, he has fun during an interview – by video – a few days before his show.

Colors and cheerfulness

Parades, however, under close surveillance: Only models are exempt from masks and the gauge for the number of guests has been drastically reduced. We have 230 against almost 500 usually ”, adds Joseph Altuzarra, who has occupied an office building abandoned since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, in the district of Tribeca. I was inspired for this collection of the book Wilder Mann by photographer Charles Fréger. He immortalized the pagan rites and customs of European peoples, men who, during a ceremony, become a bear, a goat or a boar. I wanted to celebrate nature and its wild magic. “ On the catwalk, the allure is bohemian and relaxed, served by floral or geometric prints.

Carolina Herrera.

Wes Gordon, artistic director of the Carolina Herrera label, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, celebrated color and volume around pieces with accents. eighties. A woman contacted me on Instagram to tell me that she had found in her attic photos and sketches belonging to her deceased husband, he was a tailor for the house in the 1980s. A real gold mine! This was the starting point of this collection that I wanted to be very happy. “

Tom Ford.

The strong colors and prints have also inspired the Proenza Schouler duo, who continue their peregrinations around the cut and layering, on fringed dresses or wraparound capes. Colors and cheerfulness are also on the program at Tom Ford, who juggles between fluid and shiny materials, an electric palette and a disco spirit. A return to glamor that underlines New York’s desire to overcome the gloom of recent months. Another approach to color: that of Gabriela Hearst, also artistic director of the house of Chloé, who was inspired by Navajo for his new collection, asking Native Americans to fashion embroidery and patches on dresses or coats. A new opportunity for the designer of Uruguayan origin to celebrate craftsmanship.

Michael Kors.

There is also a question of elegance in this New York spring-summer 2022 season, like Michael Kors, who offers an effective wardrobe around very 1950s classics: cropped pants, corolla skirts with high waists, dresses with the tightened waist… The journey through time continues with Tory Burch, who was inspired by Claire McCardell, an American designer who introduced sportswear in the 1930s. “She broke free from conventions to offer a realistic wardrobe with the daily life of women of her time. “ Results ? Aerial parts facilitating movement.

Khaite.

Sobriety was also on the program, especially at Peter Do, designer in sight, winner of the LVMH prize for young graduates in 2014, and who presented his first fashion show here. A wardrobe mainly available in black and white to meet the expectations of the modern businesswoman. The New Yorker is always a working girl. Based in 2016 by Cate Holstein, the Khaite label also put New York in the spotlight with its gray tones on trench coats or dresses, reminiscent of skyscrapers. The first city to inaugurate the return of fashion weeks as we know them, New York wanted to show that the fashion industry is, in fact, more resilient than ever.

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