New York Fashion week has started off with a bang; from models dressed as dogs pretending to urinate on the front row at Collina Strada to looks inspired by snake-like scales at Dion Lee, we have already seen a lot. And the truth is, it is only just beginning.
Perhaps the most surprising thing so far has been the important role that animals have played in the collections. The animal kingdom appears to have inspired designers across the board for NYFW, from zoomorphic models to butterfly wing prints. So, without further ado, here is our rundown of everything you need to know about New York Fashion Week so far.
Collina Strada
We may have already seen hyper-realistic animal outfits take to the catwalk this year with Schiaparelli’s taxidermy-inspired looks causing quite the stir at Paris Fashion Week last month. However, Collina Strada’s zoomorphic collection could not have been more different. Collina Strada’s enthusiasm for environmentalism has been clear for a very long time, but their latest ‘Please Don’t Eat My Friends’ Campaign solidified this position even further. In AW21, creative director Hillary Taymour explored the “Animorphs” theme digitally where looks were paralleled with correlating animal images. The AW23 collection, however, took this motif to a new level where the models now physically morphed into animals using incredibly detailed facial prosthetics.
The collection was another of Collina Strada’s sustainable ranges and followed some of their trademark styling decisions including extreme layering of sheer or lace pieces, oversized silhouettes that skimmed the body, and the pairing of dresses and trousers in the same look. The show also featured Collina Strada’s recent collaboration with Vans, a vibrant and playful collection that brings childhood nostalgia to your adult wardrobe.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Collina Strada
Anna Sui
Anna Sui’s ‘Heaven Can Wait’ show was not only intimate in terms of size, with only about 80 guests in the Peppermint Lounge, but also in its designs. Channelling inspiration from the 90s and 2000s; the slip dress was at the core of this collection. Anna Sui shared on Instagram “I wanted little dresses to dance in. Slip dresses in satin or chiffon with lingerie lace trim plus beautiful blouses and jackets with the same treatment.” This tied the intimacy of dressing to the intimacy of the bar and, of course, to New York City nightlife.
The collection explored the looks of the 90s and 2000s in a youthful way that was inspired by nightlife. The models took to a small stage and danced in front of the crowd of onlookers before treating the bar as their catwalk. The collection was not only reminiscent in the sense that the looks took inspiration from the 90s, 2000s and even 60s but also because Anna Sui brought back items from her earlier collections for this show. To celebrate the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Rabbit, Sui brought back her bunny ear hats from her 1998 collection as well as crochet hats from 1993.
Dion Lee
Skin is often a focus of Dion Lee’s work, usually playing with the binary between what is and isn’t on show. However, this collection took a slightly different look at the concept of skin, focusing instead on the skin shedding experienced by reptiles. The collection featured an array of looks inspired by reptilian scales including snake and crocodile prints but also the warping of other materials and incorporation of Dion Lee’s trademark cut-outs in order to create textures reminiscent of a reptile.
The play on the notion of skin continued beyond the prints at hand as Lee focused heavily on silhouettes and textures in order to depict the moment of skin being shed. This included a variety of distressed materials, including wool and denim, as well as a focus on outerwear, all playing into the idea of layering and a ‘second skin’.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dion Lee
Heron Preston
Heron Preston just made a monumental New York Fashion Week debut. The San Franciscan designer usually showcases his collections at Paris Fashion Week and so treated this debut as a fashion homecoming, paying homage to the city that Preston has called home for the past 15 years. The show opened with a group of individuals wearing utility-inspired vests, in Heron’s trademark vibrant orange, spray-painting the concrete floor with directions that the models would later follow. This set the scene for a collection that was sure to celebrate city-life by painting a literal street for the streetwear collection to make its debut.
As a designer that predominantly champions streetwear influences, the show was full of utilitarian-inspired looks, however, they did not come without that New York fashion-scene flair. Utility jackets were cropped and paired with skirts over trousers or sheer bodysuits, leather jackets were paired with chainmail hoods, and tracksuits were paired with furry boots. This combined the fun of New York City fashion with streetwear basics, in a perfect love letter to the city and community that was being honoured.
Prabal Gurung
Prabal Gurung’s ‘Anichya’ (Impermanence) collection continued the nature-inspired theme that we have been seeing throughout New York Fashion week so far as it celebrated metamorphosis through a butterfly wing motif. The pattern was central to the collection, appearing not only on several of the opening looks from the show but also as the background for promotional images posted on Instagram.
As the show went on the print itself undertook a metamorphosis as the pattern became less prominent and instead intricately appliqued organza took centre stage. However, even as the butterfly wing pattern faded out of the collection, its inspiration remained clear. Instead, the flowing silks and sheer dresses mimicked the nature of the butterfly wings and we are reminded of the theme of impermanence as we are thrust between the juxtaposition of light and dark, of the delicate and the durable.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Prabal Gurung
Words By Amelia Gregory
Header Image: Heron Preston, Dion Lee, Prabal Gurung
