New York Fashion Week 2018: What happened? Who went and what were the standout trends?
The takeaways to note now
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.New York Fashion Week has drawn to a close, prompting a retrospective look back on every last drop of sartorial splendour from the last seven days.
Famous faces from far and wide congregated to watch the fashion - and drama - unfold, with Whoopi Goldberg, Saoirse Ronan and A$AP Rocky among those in attendance.
On the catwalks themselves, Raf Simons continued to politicise Calvin Klein’s aesthetic by channelling a vision of tacit dystopia while Ralph Lauren provided an uplifting boost of all-American optimism via age-blind casting and a Bruce Springsteen-led soundtrack.
From the trends to note to the tussles to talk about, here’s everything we learned from New York Fashion Week.
And it was all yellow
From Big Bird raincoats at Marc Jacobs to canary-coloured tailoring at BOSS, this season’s New York catwalks were awash with sunshiny hues.
While Rodarte went full Disney princess in its yellow manifestations, which came complete with tulle skirts and floral embellishments, Tibi and R-13 opted for a more subdued pastel shade, which infiltrated several looks on both runways.
Meanwhile, bumblebee yellow was a prevailing feature across Prabal Gurung’s spring/summer 2019 collection, giving the catwalk a pleasingly cheerful underbelly.
The future looks bright and buttery.
Cardi B and Nicki Minaj had a scuffle
Rumours of a rivalry between the popular female rappers have circulated for years, but contentions came to a head on Friday 7 September, when video footage emerged of a physical altercation between the two successful artists.
According to TMZ, Cardi B had confronted Nicki Minaj at a Harper’s Bazaar event over “lies Nicki was spreading” surrounding her abilities as a mother.
The encounter became physical and the “Bodak Yellow” rapper allegedly threw one of her shoes at Minaj.
Florals took a flamboyant turn
Florals for spring may not be groundbreaking, but if New York’s runways are anything to go by, next season is set for a horticultural overhaul offering an energetic reimagining of flowery patterns.
At Badgley Mischka, for example, florals took on a three-dimensional life of their own, with silk petals physically bulging off mini dresses while Alice in Wonderland-themed thornery adorned tailored suits.
Meanwhile, Claudia Li’s blooms combined the oversized with the oriental in homage of the designer’s Asian heritage.
“My mom is this crazy flower lady, and as a child, all the flowers seemed really big to me, so we enlarged them,” Li told American Vogue of her new collection.
Diversity transcended tokenism
While leaps and bounds are being made in other areas in terms of diversity and representation, the fashion industry is playing catch up.
Despite the odd plus-size casting, catwalks have traditionally been a parade of physical and racial homogeneity, giving rise to criticisms that fashion week promotes unrealistic body ideals and cultivates a culture of exclusivity when it comes to ethnicity.
However, this season showed that change may finally be afoot.
While Christian Siriano, Chromat and Prabal Gurung have been major proponents of body positivity for several seasons, casting transgender women, plus-size women and women with disabilities in their shows, this September saw a mainstream adoption of the movement.
Claudia Li’s show featured an all-Asian cast for the first time while Rihanna has received widespread acclaim for her firm advocation of diversity.
The singer-turned-fashion designer enlisted an eclectic line-up to showcase her new lingerie collection for Savage x Fenty, featuring women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities.
The model Slick Woods was among those taking part, who walked the runway holding her visibly pregnant belly wearing nipple covers and underwear - something you rarely see in lingerie marketing, let alone at New York Fashion Week.
As for street style, it’s a jungle out there
The key trends might be set on the catwalk but New York Fashion Week’s off-catwalk style is no less worthy of attention.
This season’s street stylers were as elaborate as ever, but one trend reigned supreme among those photographed: leopard print.
It’s the dynamic design that never fades in relevance or style and New York Fashion Week’s attendees channelled the print with aplomb.
Whether it was an oversized duster coat, a simple silk shirt or the infamous midi skirt by Réalisation Par that’s been littering your Instagram feeds all summer, if there’s one overriding message from New York Fashion Week street style, it’s let it be leopard.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments