Hundreds of consecutive runway shows have taken place throughout February to accumulate into what has been deemed fashion month. New York held their infamous fashion week Feb. 10-15. Many designers, including Tory Burch, Coach and Collina Strada, all showcased their work on the runway.
Although officially scheduled to begin on Feb. 10, New York Fashion Week began more than a week earlier on Feb. 2 with the Marc Jacobs show. The show showcased the Fall 2023 collection titled “Heroes.” It became clear from the beginning that this collection was a tribute to the late icon and catalyst in the fashion world Vivianne Westwood. Westwood was most well-known for bringing punk from the streets of England to mainstream designer fashion. Marc Jacobs reinterpreted many of Westwood’s designs with this collection and encapsulated the grunge aesthetic through the dim runway show.
The Collina Strada show quickly turned the fashion week wild. Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour asks, “What does the toned-down version of Collina look like while still being fun?” This toned-down version of Collina included models dressed in animal prosthetics. Other less toned-down models were completely transformed into dogs or dolphins; on the less extreme side of similar transformations, models wore fluffy ears or tails. All this creative vision was fitting, considering the show was titled, “Please Don’t Eat My Friends.” Taymour showed that fashion is more than just clothing.
Coach took the runway in a more intimate showroom, especially when compared to their bleacher-style showroom last year. Coach’s designer Stuart Vevers considers Coach to be “America’s house of leather,” which makes sense considering the great leather coats and separates that were displayed in their fall 2023 Ready-To-Wear collection.
Tory Burch also wanted this collection to be more than just clothing. Burch said, “I wanted to challenge the concept of traditional femininity and beauty and twist it.” She continued, “I don’t think women want rules anymore.” The collection embodied this through the way it toyed with the notion of perfection. The show’s opening look was a pleated wool skirt that was held together by a large safety pin. The safety pin pinned together the asymmetrical waistband. Everything about the collection was practical with a slight touch of creativity and imperfection.
New York set the bar high for this year’s fall/winter fashion week. The week was full of iconic looks, from the guests’ street style to the designer collections on the runway, influencing the fashion world with their creativity. You can continue to see the creativity in Paris and Milan in the coming weeks.
