AW22

The Collinas. Collina Strada AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

New York Fashion Week would make no sense without the energy of the city’s new-gen designers who fully embrace inclusivity, community and sustainability. This season, Collina Strada‘s Hillary Taymour showcased her exuberant and lively autumn-winter 2022 collection with a digital presentation, inviting the fashion set to experience its version of The Hills, entitled The Collinas. In the spoof, actor Tommy Dorfman makes her fashion week debut playing a twenty-something moving to New York City for a fashion internship at Collina Strada. Dorfman’s star turn was complemented by a large supporting cast: Rowan Blanchard, Marni’s Francesco Risso, Chloe Wise, Lynette Nylander, Jazzelle Zanaughtti, Ruby Aldridge, and Vogue’s Liana Satenstein – all friends of the brand. While the main character is rather clueless on how to actually do her job properly, she’s lovable with great taste – an aspect her peers can’t get enough of. The campy reality-TV pastiche wasn’t only entertaining and hilarious; it was a great background for Strada’s fabulous pleats, crushed velvet and metallic fabrics. Flashy colours and graphics inspired by 1970s psychedelic rock were mixed with genderless prom dresses and cargo pants made from upcycled materials. This season, Taymour evidentely entered her 2000s phase, and it’s working. Some ideas from spring 2022 carry over, like the Angel-printed tee and meshy layering pieces that have long been a staple. There is a low vibrating cake theme as well – Zanaughtti poses in a pageant ribbon top holding a pink cake; a pair of jeans were dyed using melted sprinkles. Chiffon is shredded to evoke feathers and studio detritus is cut into fringe. The eclecticism of Taymour’s earliest collections persists, and here we are with dozens of wearable and wantable garments that reflect the brand’s spirit.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Elevated. Peter Do AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

“I was a bit more selfish this season,” Peter Do declared backstage of his autumn-winter 2022 show. “I wanted to do fashion that feels the most me, the most personal. I really like the suit. I like that it takes time to make, that you don’t need to buy many, and that when you find a good one, it becomes your safe space. I want to be that for women.” Some might call Do’s approach counterintuitive. After all, we’ve spent the last two years getting very comfortable out of suits. But a glance back at the pre-fall collections and a look around at the early New York shows says something different. The suit is back. Do’s exacting nature came across in his palette, which he restricted to just four colors – black, white, camel, and gray. His cuts were more expressive. Many of the day suits were color-blocked in spirals, so they looked different front to back. For evening he showed a trio of monochrome three-piecers that combined trousers, waistcoats elongated to the ankles, and double-face coats worn shrugged off the shoulders to expose bare arms and back. Jackets scaled way, way up into one-size-fits-all coats made a big statement, a requirement for outerwear purchases. We’re likely to see those on the street this time next year. Breaking up the tailoring were long pleated skirts of the sort that we’ve seen elsewhere this week and a pair of minimal, slightly A-line long dresses. With every season, Do is gaining the recognition of New York’s finest go-to labels.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Earthy. Gabriela Hearst AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

The runways have become a platform for the questioning of gender that has long occupied LGBTQIA+ communities. This has happened at the fringes for decades, but with a new wave of trans and androgynous models recasting our notions of beauty, the project is going more mainstream. Gabriela Hearst credits her teenage daughters for advancing her own thinking; their conceptions of gender are at odds with the more static understanding that her generation grew up with. “Kids want to be free,” she said at a preview. “For them, gender is an imposition.” As a designer, she makes few distinctions between her women’s and men’s collections. On the autumn-winter 2022 runway, colors, materials, and silhouettes were shared across them. If you are familiar with Hearst’s work, then you know how truly important sustainability is for her – at her brand, there’s no place for greenwashing. This season, the collection’s aesthetic is close to nature as well. The luscious citrine and watermelon colors of her Manos del Uruguay–knitted chunky cashmere sweaters were achieved via botanical dyes. The print on the cashmere-silk knit poncho that was a focal point of the collection was taken from the artist Ana Martinez Orizondo’s painting of a tree. And the crochet motif on a sleeveless dress and a long-sleeve top and midiskirt was inspired by a peacock’s tail feathers. Safe to say Hearst is the earthiest luxury designer around. But she can do worldly too. Amber Valletta closed the show in a double-breasted suit made from sportswear wool whose sharpness belied its comfort factor. Trenches were finished with storm flaps made from panels of woven leather and silk crepe de chine that Hearst likened to armor. She was equally proud to point out that the elaborate pleating on the bodice and sleeves of a flower-print dress was done in New York’s garment district.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Material Gworl. LaQuan Smith AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

Before debuting his fiery autumn-winter 2022 collection on the runway this evening, New York-based designer LaQuan Smith took a moment of silence to acknowledge the late and great André Leon Talley – the longtime Vogue editor who changed the industry as we know it, due to his discerning eye and unparalleled enthusiasm (to be honest, it’s shocking that no other brand in the city mentioned Talley’s passing this season). During the hectic, fast-paced week, it was a classy touch on Smith’s part that reminded one to take a moment and to reflect. It also allowed spectators to quite literally take a breath, before having it taken away by the ultra-sexy clothes that followed. The opening number, for instance – modeled by Julia Fox, It girl of the moment – was a black turtleneck dress with bold chest cutouts. The crowd went wild for it. After two years of the pandemic, and the overuse of terms like “comfort dressing” or “loungewear,” Smith wanted to dial up the sex factor for autumn and vouch for the return of naughty glamour. This resulted in loads of sequins, fabulous mink coats, and extremely-mini skirts that just skimmed the buttocks – like a modern-day take on wild Studio 54 style. “This collection was really about the revival of New York City and celebrating life again,” said Smith. “I wanted to create a collection that gave women a sense of hope and celebration.”

His color palette of neutrals, paired with electrifying golds, reds, and blues, certainly woke you up with a jolt. Smith does sexy well. Sequin- or mink-covered body suits were paired with low-slung trousers that exposed hip bones. The dresses were cut short with deep-V necklines, while his version of leather pants came all zippered up like a moto jacket. Outerwear was a new category push for him, Smith said: “It’s all about these super-strong, big, New York shearlings, with these little itty-bitty sexy silhouettes underneath. It’s cold outside, but she’s going somewhere.” Smith’s clothes are certainly not for wallflowers. In the spirit of recent collections from, say, Blumarine or Versace, Smith sees the future of fashion as a time to be raunchy and show some skin. After two years of sweatpants, this feels right. There were a few key women who stuck with him during the design process as well. He cited style icons like Lil’ Kim and Grace Jones, as well as the regular everyday Manhattan women he’s witnessed growing up in New York. “I’d see women teetering in their heels in the Meatpacking District, when New York was vibrant, fun, and all about nightlife,” says Smith. “That kind of energy and level of excitement is what I’m trying to revive.” His latest assortment, he says, is what he envisions the current crop of New York party girls wearing. “It’s fresh, young, and sexy,” said Smith. “To me, it’s the new New York bitch.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Chic Awkwardness. Maryam Nassir Zadeh AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

Maryam Nassir Zadeh‘s style and aesthetic language (re)defines what New Yorker women (and men) really wear, love and want. Trying to understand the nuance of the label can be like cracking a secret code – and the autumn-winter 2022 collection is quintessentially MNZ. To her and her community, a sort of chic awkwardness – which never feels like a costume! – is everything. Here is Susan Cianciolo, the godmother of all Lower East Side style, in a plaid scarf wrapped around her head, and a leather, boxy skirt set. Putting Drake Burnette in a slender ringer tee and charismatic long pencil skirt means something. Lexie Smith’s sheer butter-colored trousers under a sort of uncanny work dress are intentional; layering coats for Angel Prost mimics Prost’s own magpie style. On the whole, these clothes come with a gentle handfeel, lent by shell buttons on a lichen short sleeve shirt and the Sharpie-drawn logo on a tee. Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s clothes, always styled in a seemingly spontaneous and intuitive way, help build character which is 100% authentic – and mysteriously quirky.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.