Nicole, itâs so interesting that you speak about two New Yorks, because my thesis is that fashion week was a reflection of the city as it is today, where the dissonance between its air-brushed mythology and the gritty reality of the streets is as loud as a jackhammer, and as pervasive as the stink of weed. At the same time, the geography and reach and culture of fashion here continues to expand; with the action on Scott Avenue in Brooklyn (where Luar showed) rivaling that on Park Avenue (where Marc Jacobs returned to the Armory). The people designing fashion are also more reflective of the cityâs demographics as well, and are interacting with the legacy of American fashion in unexpected ways.
Historically, Seventh Avenue followed Paris, but this season designers found inspiration not far from home. There were myriad references to Helmut Lang (the influential Austrian who moved his show here in the late â90s), while Jason Wuâs fairytale forest collection included homages to the great Charles James. Graduates from the school of Susan Cianciolo on the schedule included Eckhaus Latta and SC103, who are included in a new exhibition at Pratt. New York is also a city of innovation and several designers tried out formats other than a runway show, like Elena Velez who hosted a salon, Puppets and Puppetsâ Carly Mark who showed a collection that wonât be produced as a âremember my nameâ goodbye gesture as she preps for a move to London, and LIC-based Melitta Baumeister who did a video activation that replicated a phone scroll. Log on, tune out, or jump on the subway. In New York you can still chase your dreams for the price of a token, swipe, or a tap.âLaird Borrelli-Persson
