Everything that Happened at New York Fashion Week Spring 2019. From powerful black cast staging to Jaws homage, here are four interesting to know about NYFW Spring 2019.
The Big Apple, as one of the global fashion capital, was flooded with many different colors, textures, fabrics, and personalities, from September 6-14, 2018. The annual New York Fashion Week was a usual full of festivities. With shows like Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, and Marc Jacobs, the guests showcased their best styles on the streets of NYC. From the more luxurious brands like Tom Ford to some of the most anticipated show from Calvin Klein, there was an extravagant mix of high-end and streetwear throughout. The following is summarized in our report and here are four interesting to know about NYFW SS19:
1. Saying bye to streetwear?
After seeing (or even wearing) the streetwear trend for so long, is it still in? Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, which opened and closed the week, might have a different opinion on streetwear. Tom Ford is one of the best when it comes to combining sophisticated style with haute couture. For his spring 2019 runway collection, Ford used neutral colors to create a stunning collection of wearable, feminine (sometimes masculine-inspired) always sexy pieces. Being held at Park Avenue Armory, the classic collection was elegant and sensual, while always remaining high-end and luxurious. The audience could see neutral colors of blacks, nudes, grays, and whites, and fabrics such as laces, leathers, faux crocodile, silks and feathers, trending animal prints also made appearances in certain pieces.
Meanwhile, for Marc Jacobs, this spring 2019 collection is an extension of fall collection “without the aggression, and high on pretty.” He showcased a mostly pastel palette inspired by the paintings of Genieve Figgis and fascinating materials, from silks and laces to feathers, lustrous lamés, mega sequins, tweed, and a pop of yellow rubber for a coat. He also continued fall’s exploration of volume in trapeze shapes, massive ruffles, pleated pants, bold shoulders, huge sleeves, enormous waist flowers, and on and on, with big-bigger-biggest a major takeaway.
2. The return of Proenza Schouler and Rodarte to NYFW.
Having shown their past two collections in Paris, this fall, Proenza Schouler, the American brand founded by partners in life and work Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, returned to New York Fashion Week. “It’s about humble materials,” McCollough said about the spring 2019 collection. “The entire collection is made out of cotton and denim; there’s a tiny bit of leather and embellishment.” The models were seen walking in deconstructed blazers styled with oversize, marble-dyed shirts, denim dresses of varying shades with dungaree straps, and baggy leather boots bound at the ankle. Embracing all the serene minimalism of an Agnes Martin painting, they were clothes for the 21st-century pioneer women.
As for Rodarte, a little rain did not stop people’s excitement for the return of designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy to New York Fashion Week. For their spring 2019 collection, they held a magical outdoor show on the Lower East Side in a midst of a rainstorm. For a brand known for its ethereal, yet moody aesthetic, the dark and drizzly day couldn’t have been more perfect for a collection filled with feminine tulle, floral headpieces, and stunning gowns. For spring, the Mulleavys looked to fairytale-worthy dresses done in a range of hues from reds to pinks, blues, and even striking shades of fuchsia and violet. It was a reminder of the dreaminess that had been missing from the New York Fashion Week calendar since Rodarte left the schedule two years ago.
3. JAWS and The Graduate by Raf Simons
At Raf Simons’ show, crashing waves and people swimming were projected onto the walls and runway. When the models finally started walking out from backstage, some were wearing leather and neoprene scuba suits, while the ones who were less covered-up had glistening cheeks and chests, as they’d just gotten out of the ocean and were lying in the sun to dry. After a few mini-dress and oversized blazer combos made their way down the runway, the audience got their first glimpse at this season’s main motif: the JAWS movie poster. “At the beach, there’s this incredible idea of beauty, but also a tension between land and ocean, a feeling of two worlds meeting, maybe colliding,” Simons wrote in the notes for the show. “There’s a sense of the unexpected, and always, a temptation. For me, JAWS perfectly exemplifies (that).” After that, following in the footsteps of Vaquera, Simons sent models down the runway wearing graduation gowns and caps, too. Inspired by Mike Nichols 1967 film The Graduate, he used the pieces as a way to “explore taboos and temptations, shifts in culture and community,” as he explained post-show.
4. Pyer Moss celebrates diversity on the runway
Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond brought the fashion set to Brooklyn’s Weeksville neighborhood for a show that was just as impactful as its location. Weeksville, one of the country’s first free black communities, was founded by African-American James Weeks in 1838, just 11 years after slavery was abolished in New York. Jean-Raymond, a native of the historic neighborhood, presented his spring 2019 collection at the Weeksville Heritage Center, an institution dedicated to preserving the community’s African-American culture. The venue served as the perfect location for a collection that celebrated black culture to the fullest while sending a powerful message not only to the fashion industry but the whole world. Jean-Raymond hired black artist Derrick Adams to create 10 new works for the collection. The portraits, which feature black families partaking in everyday activities, were transformed into several pieces for the collection, including flowing, hand-painted tunics and a Swarovski-embellished gown showing a father holding his baby. During a time when the fashion industry, and the entire world, is still struggling to combat racial inequalities, a black designer staging such a powerful and unapologetically black show is exactly what New York Fashion Week needed, and it’s something that deserves everyone’s attention.