New York Fashion Week has begun, and it’s already pretty clear that this is going to be a much different creature than seasons past – starting with what season, exactly, the models are wearing. Traditionally these shows have been a showcase for spring/summer collections. But this year several designers and brands, including Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger and Opening Ceremony, are mixing it up. You’ll be seeing clothes and accessories available in retail stores for fall/winter ’16.
Join Los Angeles Times journalists and our content partner WWD for the shows and fanfare.
Tommy Hilfiger runway finale at New York Fashion Week
In case you missed the live-streamed extravaganza that was Tommy Hilfiger’s New York Fashion Week runway show on Friday, Sept. 9, here’s a view of (most of) the runway finale from the vantage point of my seat:
Tommy Hilfiger runway finale on Sept. 9, 2016.
Whoopi Goldberg was (almost) everywhere at New York Fashion Week
For New York Fashion Week – and the celebrities who often fill the front row seats at the shows – things have just been getting started. Take this past weekend for example.
Saturday afternoon’s colorful Capri-themed show saw such notables as Christina Hendricks, Pamela Anderson and Neve Campbell sitting elbow to elbow, with Kelly Osbourne (dog in lap) a few seats away.
Later that evening, Alexander Wang’s show at the cavernous Pier 94 drew the likes of Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”), filmmaker Baz Luhrmann (seated at the left hand of Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Kylie Jenner (whose sister Kendall walked the show) and Madonna. And those were just the sightings before the runway show concluded with a surrpise street-party-on-the-pier dubbed the Wang Fest to celebrate the designer’s collaborative collection with Adidas Originals that saw performances by Fetty Wap and Skrillex.
Sunday was no day of rest for the celebrity set which turned out in force for Hood By Air’s “Handkerchief” runway show (sponsored by, of all things, the website PornHub). Among the notables in attendance were Jaden Smith, Rick Ross, Naomi Campbell, Jussie Smollett (we also spotted the “Empire” star at Altuzarra later that afternoon) and Whoopi Goldberg.
The last on that list, Academy Award winner and “The View” panelist Whoopi Goldberg, wins the weekend’s star-turn derby by not only turning up at the J. Crew Spring/Summer 2017 presentation less than a half-hour later, but by ending the day at Opening Ceremony’s show -- as one of the high-profile people to walk the runway for a free-form Pageant of the People hosted by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein that also and included Aidy Bryant, Aubrey Plaza, Rashida Jones and Natasha Lyonne.
Check out Michael Kors’ spring ’17 show on Wednesday morning
It might be early on the West Coast, but if you’re into fashion, you might find yourself up early enough on Wednesday morning to catch a glimpse of Michael Kors’ spring ’17 show.
The show is scheduled for 7 a.m. Pacific, and according to brand reps, an early selection of spring pieces will be available for purchase immediately after the runway show on michaelkors.com and in select Michael Kors stores.
Also, Kors himself will talk about the spring Ready-to-Wear, Ready to Go selections for an Instagram story on Wednesday.
So grab your morning coffee and come back and watch the show here.
Hood by Air and Pornhub collaborate on clothes for fans of the unclothed
The day after Hood by Air staged a Spring/Summer 2017 runway show at New York Fashion Week with the unlikely sponsorship of NSFW website Pornhub (don’t fret if your office Web browser won’t let you go there — the name pretty much says it all), reps for HBA confirm what we sort of suspected all along: that the relationship between the two brands is deeper than simply slapping the website’s name on a few runway T-shirts and on the show notes.
According to an email we received Monday afternoon, several pieces that appeared in Sunday afternoon’s runway show are part of a Hood by Air Pornhub capsule collection that includes bodysuits, hoodies and long-sleeved shirts and will be available for purchase in early 2017.
The announcement included the following statement from HBA founder Shayne Oliver: “It was a trend happening in the company not wanting to collaborate with clothing companies, but to collaborate with businesses that had liberal ideas and spirits. Pornhub is way beyond that. I feel like it’s a great way of selling ideas.”
The announcement also included praise for the clothing label from Pornhub Vice President Corey Price: “Hood by Air epitomizes contrast, resulting in a style that encompasses and juxtaposes aggressive street wear, hip-hop, art and high fashion. Shayne Oliver has seamlessly deconstructed the boundaries of fashion and created a brand that emanates edginess and defies convention. Here at Pornhub, through the past year, we’ve successfully diversified our brand, penetrating an assortment of verticals, including fashion.”
Yes, he totally went there. And all we were going to do was point out the obvious irony of branded clothing for a porn website.
Taylor Swift pops by the pier for the Tommy Hilfiger and Gigi Hadid show at New York Fashion Week
Fashion week isn’t fashion week without celebrities in the mix. So there was really no surprise when Taylor Swift, fresh from a reported breakup from actor Tom Hiddleston, made a NYFW appearance on Friday evening.
Swift, sans her large squad of girlfriends, came to support one of them, Gigi Hadid, who has a new in-season womenswear collaboration with the Tommy Hilfiger brand called Tommy x Gigi. Here you can watch a replay of the show, which was live-streamed.
Swift turned up in thigh-high velvet boots and a nautical-themed top-and-shorts combo to sit front row. The pre-show festivities at a pier in New York appeared to have a very East Coast boardwalk/carnival vibe. (Times deputy fashion editor Adam Tschorn was on the scene.)
Swift greeted Hilfiger and air-kissed his cheek.
Swift looked surprised for the camera.
Swift had some social media time, pulling out her cell phone to take video of the show that was posted on her Instagram account.
A look at the show from Swift’s vantage point.
In her Instagram post, Hadid thanked Hilfger.
A glimpse of Jason Wu’s spring/summer ’17 collection, including a favorite look
It’s Friday, and the fashion has continued along runways at New York Fashion Week.
Here’s a closer look at the runway finale from designer Jason Wu’s fresh and floral-inspired collection.
A look at the Jason Wu runway finale during New York Fashion Week.
And below, take a look at the back of this dress from the designer’s spring/summer ’17 collection.
Here’s why Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 4 deserves at least a two-star rating
Any member of the fashion industry media attending and covering Kanye West’s last-minute fashion show Wednesday — adjacent to the ruins of a smallpox hospital on the tip of Roosevelt Island — invested a minimum of five hours to do so.
We bring this up from the start because that time sink, in combination with the U.N.-worthy credential checkpoints and a start time that was delayed an hour and a half made it nearly impossible for the collection to be worth the investment of time and energy it took to see it in person.
But here’s the thing: The Yeezy spring 2017 runway collection, the fourth between West and Adidas, served up a decent range of athleisurely pieces for women that reflected a progression from Season 1 (we weren’t in town to take in Seasons 2 and 3).
Is Kanye West’s Yeezy fashion label more of a headache and not fashion at all?
This has become an abusive relationship. To a great extent, fashion and the media have only ourselves to blame. We’ve been world-class enablers of Kanye West, allowing him to put us at his mercy.
He was given permission to stage stunts like the one he pulled Wednesday for Yeezy Season 4, for which he withheld basic logistical information, such as the show’s location — Roosevelt Island — until 12 hours before the 3 p.m. show. Shuttle buses were arranged as a “courtesy,” departing against all logic from one of the farthest points west in Manhattan to slog crosstown to an island in the East River. Round-trip, the event clocked in at about four-and-a-half hours.
This is behavior that would not be tolerated from true design visionaries — Karl Lagerfeld or West’s friend Riccardo Tisci. Not that they would display such audacious disrespect for people’s time — nor would their employers allow it. In 2007, there was nearly a bounty on Marc Jacobs’ head when he made his audience wait two hours. Yet West will likely be rewarded with splashy coverage and maybe even applause for a collection that was at best predictable. Adidas should be embarrassed.
Rebecca Minkoff is mixing fashion and technology for her in-season fashion week show on Saturday
Rebecca Minkoff has invited about 350 consumers to its #RunwaytoRetail fashion show Saturday, but for those unable to snag an invitation, the company will use innovative technology to make them feel as if they are actually there.
Minkoff plans to live-stream the show in 360 Virtual Reality in a partnership with Ripple. The show will take place on the street outside the company’s boutique at 96 Greene St. on Saturday at noon featuring fall 2016 merchandise.
Whether they have their goggles, glasses, or use a Facebook experience or their laptops, consumers can manipulate the imagery and can choose what they’re going to look at and where they’re going to look, said Uri Minkoff, chief executive officer of Minkoff. “They can wander anywhere on the street. It’s a unique immersion experience,” he said.
Check out Tom Ford’s Fall/Winter 2016 fashion show for in-season inspiration
Fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford showed his Fall/Winter 2016 clothes on Wednesday night in New York to a star-studded audience. It was a mix of celebrity and luxury on display as Ford, his friends and fashion journalists gathered to see this in-season collection.
The Times’ deputy fashion editor Adam Tschorn was at the show, and he will let you know about what and who he saw in an upcoming post.
In the meantime, check out his tweets below. Or visit tomford.com to browse or buy pieces from Ford’s new collection, which is available now.
Revisiting the controversial remarks of Kanye West’s fashion collaborator Vanessa Beecroft
Some magazine stories are read in the same way horror movies are watched: Nervously, through your fingers, while imploring the main character not to open the closet door. Such is the case with Amy Larocca’s recent New York magazine profile of Vanessa Beecroft, the Italian British performance artist and Kanye West collaborator, in which the now L.A.-based artist offers a series of squirm-worthy observations on race.
Stuff like:
“I have divided my personality. There is Vanessa Beecroft as a European white female, and then there is Vanessa Beecroft as Kanye, an African-American male.”
Kanye West’s collaboration with performance artist Vanessa Beecroft
Bergdorf Goodman’s men’s fashion director Bruce Pask shared a photo of Kanye’s Yeezy season four show on Instagram.
Kanye West’s fashion show is happening now with Kim Kardashian West, Kendall Jenner in attendance
Waiting for Kanye
In time for fashion week, Google makes street style and runway fashion shoppable for mobile users
Google’s getting into the search now, buy now game. The search giant on Wednesday unveiled a new fashion week-centric search feature that helps mobile users easily access a show schedule, view images from each collection, get access to behind-the-scenes content directly supplied by certain designers and buy looks seen both on and off the runway.
The fashion week content can be found by searching “Fashion Week” or “designer + Fashion Week” in Google.
Tom Ford’s proactive strategy in a changing fashion world might just revolutionize the entire industry
Make room, Kanye. The other big fashion show of today is Tom Ford’s.
On Tuesday, the fashion designer and filmmaker took a break from model and VIP fittings at his Madison Avenue boutique to talk about the logistics of actually pulling off a “see now/buy now” collection, how he juggles his two high-profile careers and why he’s still looking for a place to live in Los Angeles -- even though everyone thinks Ford bought a $50-million Beverly Hills mansion out from under Jay Z and Beyoncé.
Pre-show streaming of the Tom Ford fall/winter 2016 runway show in New York is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. PDT at tomford.com.
Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 4 fashion show will live-stream at noon PST on Tidal
One of the early highlight of NYFW is expected to be the Kanye West/Adidas Yeezy Season 4 show that was long on rumor and short on specifics — until 4:38 a.m. Wednesday EST (that’s 13 ½ hours before the scheduled start time) that is — when emailed invitations instructed attendees to board a shuttle bus mid-afternoon to be ferried to a still-undisclosed location for a show that will be live-streamed via Tidal. Turns out the show is set for Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island.
Rihanna, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Made Fashion Week are popping onto the NYFW scene with temporary shops
The city is popping with temporary retail boutiques while the fashion flock is in town. Puma and Rihanna unveiled their fall/winter 2016 Fenty Puma by Rihanna collection at a Midtown pop-up shop (Tuesday night), the sisters Jenner are throwing a Kendall + Kylie pop-up bash at the Samsung 837 space (Wednesday night), and Made Fashion Week has announced it plans to augment its slate of shows with a three-day straight-from-the-runway pop-up shop (Sept. 12-14).