Ten standout moments, trends, happenings, and more from New York Fashion Week fall 2014.
Photo: Gianni Pucci/Indigitalimages.com1/10Proenza Schouler’s variegated and vivid fall collectsion—which seemingly drew its speckled-and-textured cues from, among other things, thermal insulation foam—was one of our favorite lineups this week. It featured such old-school (if you can call it that) Schouler-isms like neon accents and smart patchworks, and newfound accomplishments in shape and silhouette. Combined with lug-soled slip-ons and jewelry**,** it was, all in all, a winning recipe. Bravo, boys.
Photo: Yannis Vlamos/Indigitalimages.com; Monica Feudi/Feudiguaineri.com; Kim Weston Arnold/Indigitalimages.com; Umberto Fratini/Indigitalimages.com2/10From sinewy voguing dancers at Hood By Air to grittily cool separates at Public School to urbanely sophisticated blocking at Tim Coppens to city-kids/non-models/“real people” walking at DKNY, a certain bright-eyed precociousness seethed off the New York City catwalks. Moreover, each of these shows boasted both intermixed mens- and womenswear, spearheading the season’s widespread genderless dressing trend.
Photo: Gianni Pucci/Indigitalimages.com3/10Alexander Wang's heat-activated leathers—which morphed from noir to electric blues, yellows and purples—almost made the far-flung, traffic-snarled journey to and from the Brooklyn Navy Yard forgivable. Almost.
Photo (from left): Kim Weston Arnold/Indigitalimages.com; Kim Weston Arnold/Indigitalimages.com; Courtesy of The Row4/10Ultrachic and hyper-slouchy: Over-the-top knitwear lends new meaning to the term “Lazy Sunday” this fall. Our preferred picks came courtesy of Michael Kors, Prabal Gurung, and The Row.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of Coach; Marcus Tondo/Indigitalimages.com5/10Two distinct NYC brands—Coach and Marc by Marc Jacobs—saw the infusion of some high-wattage British talent this season. Stuart Vevers debuted a smart and wearable vision of modern-day Americana at the former, while at the latter, the duo of Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley whipped up a charming sport-meets-the-street sensibility. It’s London Calling, right here in Gotham.
Photographed by Kevin Tachman6/10Some may decry Rodarte’s finale dresses as being too, well . . . esoteric. Yet, in their brilliant, brainy way, the Mulleavy sisters weren’t necessarily after a direct reimagining of Star Wars so much as they were a kind of vintage opulence, realized by the malleability and fantasy of childhood memories. The outcome: an ultrafemme, nostalgia-tinged collectsion, anchored by washed-out images of Yoda and Luke Skywalker, as if pulled from the dusty annexes of your parents’ suburban homes. What’s more, the Dan Flavin-esque fluorescent tubes they’ve used for ages in their sets felt particularly resonant this time around: They were, for the most part, light sabers.
Photo: (from left) Kim Weston Arnold/Indigitalimages.com; Yannis Vlamos/Indigitalimages.com; Marcus Tondo/Indigitalimages.com7/10Ginger is the new platinum. Redheaded models bombarded the runways this season, with standouts including Magdalena Jasek, Sophie Touchet, and Natalie Westling, whose hair is quite literally the color of a cardinal, or fire truck.
Photo (clockwise from left): Livio Valerio/Indigitalimages.com; Phil Oh (2)8/10A proliferation of icy cyan coats, both on and off the catwalk, consistently caught our eyes this week. Climatologically on theme, to say the least!
Photo (clockwise from top left): Theo Wargo/Getty Images; Andrew Toth/Getty Images; Matteo Prandoni/BFAnyc.com9/10A welcome calmness blessed the week’s nightlife scene, perhaps a silver lining of whatever number polar vortex we’ve been in. Where recent seasons’ after-parties have felt a bit frenzied, this time there seemed to be more breathing room, from Purple magazine’s dinner at Narcissa—the much-hyped new restaurant at The Standard, East Village—to Miu Miu’s shindig at the glittering Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel to Rag & Bone’s fete at Up and Down, a new club on Fourteenth Street in the former Darby space.
Photo: Gianni Pucci/Indigitalimages.com10/10Some might say the Lexington Avenue Armory was transformed into heaven on earth on Thursday night, when and where Marc Jacobs showed New York Fashion Week's final collectsion. It was a superb realization—monotone, but by no means minimal, and as wispy as a summertime sky full of cirrus clouds come sunrise. Those ombré bombers are going to be next season's must-haves, as will the swirling, sparkling pastel T-shirt dresses. How ethereal it is to see Jacobs giving 100 percent of his time to his eponymous line.
