From a controversial casting call, to an overheated model mishap, to a Teyana Taylor cameo—leave it to Kanye West to never have a dull moment at New York Fashion Week . As this year’s fabulous week-long event wraps up, the highly anticipated Yeezy Season 4 fashion line left us with a lot to talk about.
‘Ye debuted his new line on Weds. Sept. 7, the first day of NYFW, and it streamed live via Tidal. The models walked an outside runway in the hot sun on Roosevelt Island in NYC wearing all nude, white, cream and light-based colors, as well as some black and camouflage. Outfits varied from tight pencil skirts, crop tops and bodysuits to hoodies, long pants and thigh-high boots.
USA Today called it “a hot mess,” which is ironic because some models were seriously struggling due to the hot weather and exhausting conditions. The Tidal livestream began at 3 p.m. with an aerial view of the New York skyline and The Life of Pablo playing in the background. Over an hour into the livestream, the music changed to ambient sounds of horns and strings, which USA Today described as sounding like “Finding Nemo’s Dory talking to a whale.” It wasn’t until about two hours in that West appeared, dressed in all black, waving to the crowd. Of course, controversy was stirred up because, well, would it even be a Kanye West show without a little drama?
The nude hues and beige shades of colors the models flaunted onstage synced together nicely at first, until the withered energies began to show. As the sun got brighter, the weather got hotter and the day got longer, you could see the models begin to fade to the shade of the distressed clothing they wore. Not long after West greeted the crowd, models looked miserable and a few reportedly passed out to the point where the livestream even cut to another shot after West is seen running off-screen. Fashion critics everywhere gave the show awful reviews due to the two-hour-late start and disastrous mishaps including models passing out from heat exhaustion—probably because ‘Ye left them waiting for so long.
Model, Amina Blue struggled to walk in her heels and eventually took them off. She claimed they were comfortable, but the sweltering heat made it difficult for her to walk gracefully in the plastic heels and it was either ditch them or fall off the stage. So, she did what she had to do and chucked them once they slipped off.
Amid the disastrous mishaps, Yeezy also received backlash for the whole casting call situation. The requirements of the models were to be multiracial, which he clarified as “all shades of black.” In an interview with Vogue, he explained that was the best way to word what he wanted for his fashion premiere was to request multiracial models only. Which did, in fact, end up being all shades of beautiful skin-tones. Of course people flipped, but despite the controversial opinions of color-blind casting and the show’s messy parts, overall the models conveyed a variety of beautiful skin-tones shining from the beaming sunlight, accentuated through a natural, neutral-colored look.
The best part was when Teyana Taylor, who recently starred in West’s music video for the song, “Fade,” strutted down the catwalk looking hot as ever. She modeled a pair of tight, black, fitted, spandex-shorts and a tight, black top showing some seriously sexy under-boob, a sweater dangling loosely around her arms and the same rain boots Kim Kardashian was apparently spotted wearing just a week prior.
All in all, even though many continue to rip the Yeezy fashion line apart, which has in the past been called poorly designed clothes and outfits that look like a homeless person’s, many beautiful models pulled off their looks and slayed in the grassy runway of Roosevelt Island. With Philly Fashion Week launching this week, we hope all the shows are successful and that the models are kept in comfortable conditions in order to slay to the best of their ability. We also hope Yeezy can get it together for his next season of fashion.