With
Victoria Beckham deciding to to relocate to London to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of her brand, Alexander Wang and Rosie Assoulin opting to show
their Spring 2019 collections in June, and both Public School and Helmut Lang
choosing to take a break from showing altogether, New York Fashion Week,
as we traditionally know it, is having a major shakeup.
Departures and postponements aside, a quick glance over the NYFW spring 2019 calendar shows that it’s far from losing its power. Kicking off on September 6th and running until the 14th, there are plenty of events to watch out for. From designer debuts to closing parties, here’s what we’re looking forward to…
Ralph Lauren’s golden year… Departures and postponements aside, a quick glance over the NYFW spring 2019 calendar shows that it’s far from losing its power. Kicking off on September 6th and running until the 14th, there are plenty of events to watch out for. From designer debuts to closing parties, here’s what we’re looking forward to…
Ralph Lauren is celebrating 50 years in the
business and is set to mark the occasion by holding a combined show and
party. Exact details are to be revealed but he’s already set the bar pretty
high with his 40th anniversary consisting of a black-tie, candle lit garden
party for 400 guests including Robert De Niro and Sarah Jessica Parker in
Central Park. And then of course, there was last year’s autumn winter show
which featured every guest being chauffeured to Bedford to watch it amongst his
vintage car collection...
Runway debuts...
While we’re eagerly counting down the days until
Hedi Slimane’s first show at Céline and Riccardo Tisci’s debut for
Burberry, on the other side of the pond there are plenty of up-and-coming
buzzy runway moments to note. Escada, the legendary brand of the 80s and early
90s is gearing up to stage it’s first ever runway show. With a 40 year
heritage, it will be interesting to see what its new global style director,
Niall Sloan’s (previously at Hunter and Burberry) fresh vision will be for the
house on September 7th.
Elsewhere, Chris Peters, co-founder of Creatures of
the Wind, will present his first solo collection on September 5th, Carly
Cushnie previously at Cushnie et Ochs will show her re-branded line dubbed
"Cushnie" on September 7th whilst the Budapest based label Nanushka
has also joined the official NYFW schedule for the first time. Speaking
to Forbes, founder Sandra Sandor explained that she chose the
American city as "we don’t have European roots in Paris or London,
so we wanted to establish ourselves somewhere there is a desire for openness
and curiosity.”
The comeback kids...
Rodarte is set to return to NYFW, showing on
Sunday, September 10 at 6pm. Three seasons ago they decamped to Paris, but last
month the design duo behind the brand, Kate and Laura Mulleavy, announced
via Instagram they were gearing up for a return to NY. They follow in the
footsteps of Proenza Schouler, which in June announced that they will
return to the Big Apple too. “It’s been a fun ride showing the past two
seasons during couture (thank you Chambre Syndicale) but NY will always be home
so we are coming back for Spring Summer 2019," they wrote on
Instagram. "In today’s world, when, where and how one shows can be
looser and more fluid than ever and so for now, NY is our home once
again."
Hugo Boss's new direction…
Following the departure of Jason Wu, Hugo Boss have
yet to announce his replacement as womenswear artistic director. However, it
seems the show must literally go on, with invites being issued for a cryptic
event on September 9th. So what can we expect? The German brand isn’t revealing
much, but speaking to Singapore’s The Peak earlier this year,
its chief brand officer seemed to drop a hint about the direction the brand is
taking saying: “We realised that when we brought our women's pieces closer to
our tailored offerings, they were much more successful. We want to bring the
men's and women's pieces closer, in terms of aesthetics."
Carol Lim and Humberto Leon hit the big screen…
The co-creative directors of Kenzo and founders and
designers of Opening Ceremony will show the results of their continuous foray
into the film world on September 7th. Dubbed The Everything, the
short film directed by Leon and starring Milla Jovovich is described as “a
light-hearted drama about a family of teenagers with unusual powers that bring
them together.” Featured throughout the 27 minute film will be looks from the
Kenzo Fall/Winter 2018 collection and its Memento No. 3 line, the third capsule
collection Leon and Lim created based on the brand’s archives.
What will Kanye do?
He's not on the official show schedule, but as we
know, Kanye doesn't do rules so the big question is not will Kanye
West do something to promote season eight of his brand Yeezy but when? Last
September he cancelled his unofficial show days before it was due to take
place, before issuing a lookbook featuring faux paparazzi style shots of his
wife Kim Kardashian wearing the collection. In February of this year, he took
it one step further by recreating the shots but this time with a myriad of
women including Pairs Hilton dressed up as Kim look-a-likes. Unsurprisingly,
the internet went into meltdown.
So what can we expect this season? Well, it seems
Kanye is working on a similar style of campaign with both Kim and her
sister Kylie Jenner spotted in public wearing what appears to be clothes from
Yeezy season 8. Style wise, it's a bit of a departure from previous seasons.
The spandex is still plentiful, but this time it comes in neon hues. Don't
worry, Kanye is sure to tweet his reasoning for this idea very soon.
Rihanna’s closing party...
In what is being described as an “immersive experience,”
Rihanna is set to show her line of lingerie, Savage
x Fenty with a presentation on September 12. For her NYFW debut
in 2017 where she worked with Puma, Rihanna’s show cameo included BMX riders
performing backflips over pink sand dunes. Expect something just
as Instagrammable for round two.