It’s the start of a new season, the excitement for something new, and the promise for something even better to come your way.
There is just something in the air during Fashionweek. As the fashionweeks fallow one by one, combined they pretty much take up an entire month. I personally love the annual Fashionmonth September the most. There are so many reasons to love it. Vogues ‘September issue’ (the thickest Vogue edition in the year), the beginning of fall which is my favorite season, and also probably because my first job after university was working for New York Fashionweek. So it is a little nostalgic to me and more than suitable that this is the first blog entry. In September, Spring-Summer collections are shown, so the brands share their visions of next year’s spring and summer wardrobe in this year’s last sunny days. The collections usually hit the stores in the new year right, just time to dress up for spring and summer. The fashion month starts in New York, continues in Milan, and ends in Paris. Of course other cities have great Fashionweeks as well, like Copenhagen or London for example, but it’s fair to say New York, Milan and Paris are the major and most influential ones.
As for New York, the shows are typically a little more urban and edgy while showing effortless casual-chic and simplistic elegance. I was really excited to see the mix of American classics and younger designers. My personal highlights were Helmut Lang with Peter Do debuting in the position of Creative director, Ralph Lauren – the American style icon as always, Proenza Schouler, Tibi, Khaite, COS, and of course Michael Kors.
Overall, I felt like the silhouettes were long, lean and sleek. The color palettes were showing lots of black, white and muted nudes, grays and beige with individual pops of colors here and there.
Helmut Lang was one of the first shows on Friday, and it felt like the perfect tribute to the 90s origin of the brand. Clean lines, sheer tops, suit pants and jackets. I am excited to see what Peter Do will show next season and how the style will develop.
Ralph Lauren featured – among an outstanding celebrity attendance – bold gold colors, a few western references, jeans (…name a more iconic American duo than jeans and Ralph Lauren, I wait…), and long clean summer maxi dresses. I honestly love the brand all year long, in the warmer seasons I reach for their heavy knits and pajamas and in summer I wear the polo caps to shield my face from the sun or one of their maxi dresses, and I am out the door. It’s just so easy to wear and thanks to the combination of classic pieces and great quality they really make forever pieces.
Proenza Schouler showed minimalism in a very fresh color palette with different shades of white, of course some black pieces and highlights in turquoise and light blue. The brand and the collection are just cool. The brand’s pieces always appear minimalistic at first but offer sophistication in details. The pieces are rarely just trendy, but will elevate your wardrobe for plenty of seasons.
Tibi, the master of unique and modern cuts, showed a very modern way of draping and true to their USP very smart cuts for suits and combinations. The color ways seemed to be a variation of gray at first but showed how to play with gray by having sage, green, beige and curry undertones and highlight pieces. This is what makes me excited for grown-up and stylish business ware, or Spring in the city. Don’t you want to show off in the office looking like this?
Khaite is very well known for their high quality and versatile knit ware. However, over the last seasons the brand extended that core DNA with statement pieces, like their very recognizable bags, skirts and dresses. This season, the brand took their draped dresses to a whole new level and included ruff and urban leather styles.
COS is part of the H&M Group and the commercial brand I always reach for when I look for classic pieces in good quality. I can wear them to pretty much every occasion and always feel dressed well. The main value for me lies in the brand’s tailoring. The pieces fit my body perfectly and stay in shape after years of wearing them. The brand is affordable and you can find COS stores in most of the bigger cities. This season’s collection showed a lot of darker colors and plenty of layers.
Michael Kors dedicated this season’s collection to his late mother, which I thought was really touching. The show took place in Brooklyn, so the closeness to the Hudson River, the floral runway and the good weather that day formed a truly perfect spring scenery. The collection was very fresh, clean and feminine – which to me are the brand’s USPs – and gave a very promising glimpse on what next Spring could look like. The show was attended by plenty of highly successful influencers and celebrity guests.
All pictures are from Woman’s wear daily – an amazing platform to follow the collections for afar.