New York Fashion Week has begun
By Nadine Kam
AP photo
New York’s Fall Fashion Week started with the annual Heart Truth Red Dress Fall 2008 collection, with its message of encouraging women to exercise to keep their hearts healthy.
Among the celebrity models was Lisa Rinna, in a cocktail dress with tiers of fringe by Michael Kors, shimmying down the runway, above, behind actress Molly Sims.
PR Newswire
With the film version of “Sex and the City” due to be released May 30, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis and Cynthia Nixon hit the Bryant Park tent to represent their respective characters — Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.
AP photos
Green fashion you can wear to the office, not just lounging at home or sitting at the beach.
Prior to the week’s offical start, two dozen top designers treated audiences to an ensemble showcase of green fashion. “FutureFashion” was staged last night, Jan. 31, by the environmentally conscious nonprofit group Earth Pledge.
It’s about time that eco-fashion moved beyond basic T-shirts, yoga wear and hippie-dippy attire too sack-like for the fashionable set to take seriously. Designers like Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Donatella Versace showed how stylish soy and hemp could look in the right hands.
Among the green-themed threads in the FutureFashion showcase was this gown.
The aim was to incorporate recycled or organic materials without sacrificing their usual aesthetic. The outfits will get a wider audience while on display at Barneys New York.
Other designers participating in the event were: Behnaz Sarapfour, Bottega Veneta, Boudicca, Burberry, Derek Lam, Diane Von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Doo.Ri, Doro Olowu, Giambattista Valli, Givenchy, Isabel Toledo, Jil Sander, Marc Jacobs, Marni, Martin Grant, Martin Margiela, Moschino, Narciso Rodriguez, Ralph Lauren, Rodarte, Rogan, Stella McCartney, Thakoon, Threeasfour, and Yves Saint Laurent.
It’ll be great when their ideas trickle down to the malls and more people are using sustainable materials like bamboo, with more attractive non-animal accessory materials. I mean, get real. To the fashion crowd, pleather is not a realistic option.
Sorry I don’t have the names of the designers of the pieces shown. That’s one of the drawbacks of trying to offer coverage from Honolulu. As much as I’m missing being New York during Fashion Week, it’s funny that with technology being what it is, it’s somewhat possible to keep up with the shows here at home.
I was thinking that last fall when I was in NY and feeling sorry for all the other writers with deadlines to meet. As exciting as it is, Fashion Week can also be a miserable experience for those assigned to cover them. Shows in the tents are convenient — two going on at any one time — as long as you don’t have to be at both at the same time, but for every one in the tent are others are scattered around town, starting anywhere from 8 a.m. (there are a couple of good shows I didn’t make it to because I just couldn’t wake up that early) to 9 p.m., with parties starting at 10 or 11 p.m.
Many of the reporters who were bright-eyed and smiling on Day 1 were already looking haggard by Day 3. I’d see them typing away in the media room between shows, or in the limited seats in the front of the tents with laptops balanced on their knees. Because I was blogging the experience, without the set deadline of the paper, I could set my own deadline. The time difference helped. If a show ended at noon, I could have a leisurely lunch and still post before morning coffee break in Hawaii.
Because there are several dedicated fashion cable shows in New York, it’s possible for those who can’t make it to the shows or refuse to be jostled and herded around, to watch them on TV, which offers much better views than within the tents. Top editors would reserve their appearances only for the marquee names, like Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta.
My one consolation is that those in charge of the show last year told me they see fewer reporters for the fall shows because they don’t like traipsing around in the New York winter.
