Donna Karan’s PR person described New York Fashion Week (NYFW) as one of the most stressful and dramatic times of the year. Although there are fashion weeks all over the world throughout the year, NYFW covers Fall/Winter Ready-to-Wear (RTW) lines, allowing the top designers to open up their houses to the world. And since New York is the city for everyone, fashion week and the looks play a role in creating trends for the whole world.
This year’s New York Fashion Week went from February 6th to the 14th and everyday was filled with shows and new looks for the fashion world to cling on to. The shows this year were bold, fresh and exciting, similar to previous years – New York does not disappoint. The prominent themes this year were a mix of classic Fall/Winter looks, such as leather, furs and dark shades, but also with additions of fresh new themes, such as glamorous spins on RTW lines with sequins, abstract prints and inspirations from 18th century styles, embroideries and patterns.
A general Fall/Winter Ready-to-Wear favourite, furs were prominent this year with many of the top designers. Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan used furs to accessorize their styles, by including fur coats and scarves, while others, such as Carolina Herrera introduced printed and coloured fur coats and scarves, adding an additional appeal to the already popular fur trend. Calvin Klein, Badgley Mischka and Thakoon were among the many others who did not fail to include furs in their collections.
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When we think of fall and winter clothing, we think of dark colours like greys and blacks, which are also common in NYFW. And while come designers, such as Marc Jacobs and Prabal Gurung dedicated a significant portion of their collections to darker shades, other designers decided to glamorize the traditional Fall/Winter look, adding sequins and gold, rich detailing to their pieces. Pamela Roland added leather pieces; bright colours and details to her looks, making them professional yet glamorous. While Badgley Mischka, Jenny Packham and especially Christian Siriano added beautiful detailing, sequins, embroideries and silk to glamorize their designs in traditional couture styles. Seeing that sequins and red carpet styles were popular among the RTW looks this season, all eyes were on Carolina Herrera, who is known for elegant designs. However her house did not follow the sequins and embroideries trend, but unexpectedly used prints and furs in the pieces.
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Along with the printed furs and gold sequins, a new trend that emerged this season was the 18th century-inspired embroideries and prints, which were more or less present in almost all designers. Ralph Lauren’s looks included silk shirts with ruffled collars, velvet dresses and accessories adorned with 18th century style embroideries. Marchesa, Naeem Khan and Christian Siriano all produced silk, couture style dresses with embroideries and elements of 18th century inspired looks. Although this was a new and unexpected trend, designers welcomed it, effortlessly seaming it into their looks.
While there are prominent trends that dominated the runways of New York Fashion Week, some designers also included their own personal touches in their lines. Anna Sui had a grand selection of leggings with her looks and Rachel Zoe and 3.1 Phillip Lim designed a gorgeous collection of coats. Prints were also a prominent trend in some selected designers, with Oscar De La Renta including elegant prints in his classic elegant designs whereas Diane Von Furstenberg went rogue and included animal prints in her looks. Proenza Schouler also attempted to mix prints, however her mix of several prints and colours did not flatter the looks created on the runway. [pagebreak]
Overall the 2013 New York Fashion Week shows were one of the best ones. The fashions were a great mix of traditional looks with new touches, as well as brand new designs and trends, along with great accessories. The stars of the season, designers and fashion houses that managed to include a taste of all the new trends as well as the traditional ones while taking the audience’s breath away would be Marc Jacobs, Jenny Packham, Marchesa and Christian Siriano.