By: Rebecca Lowthorpe Follow @Rebecca_ELLE
Jason Wu's collection for Hugo Boss
It took approximately 15 minutes to transform opinion on maybe less. In fact, most may have raised an eyebrow from the moment Edie Campbell stepped out in a restrained black skirt suit with a glossy black fur at her throat. With one show, its talented new designer, together with the worlds coolest models (even Stella Tennant made an exit in a black tux), catapulted the Hugo Boss brand into a player in New Yorks top fashion league. The clothes were rigorously spare, made from traditional menswear fabrics, and cut with Bauhaus-style forensic precision. The silhouettes, like the architectural set all mirrors and lush greenery had been inspired by the modernist buildings at Bosss German headquarters in Metzingen. It was so refined and neat, even when it came to those pale, delicate dresses that had been embroidered with criss-crosses of glistening beads. While Wus first collection for Boss may have recalled vintage Jil Sander and Calvin Klein, when both those designers were at their creative peak, it also got to the heart of what should be for 2014.
Hugo Boss, Proenza Schouler, Michael Kors
At , it felt like the designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez wanted to stride out somewhere new, but did they get there? The show notes were printed with the following words: Energy, Abstraction, Humour, Action, Colour, Instinct, Spontaneous, Fast. And this played out as urgent sculpted tailoring, potent colours, sharp shapes, and unusual fabrications, such as a wool photo jacquard that mimicked industrial carpet lining. Backstage, they said they had been inspired at the Venice Biennale by the ceramic sculptor, Ron Nagle.
All that made sense with the strict coats, hourglass waists, exaggerated peplums, skinny trousers, synthetic colour (cobalt, rust, jade mixed withblack and white) and chunky-pointy flats. It was all pointing in the right direction archly modern, cool fashion but somehow they got so caught up in their fabrications, they looked, for the most part, stiff; it felt as if theyd left their customer behind. Still, it was a high-energy, editorial-worthy, impactful show with a powerful point of view and you dont see many of those in New York.
knows a thing or two about impact not that he does this with synthetics or industrial carpet lookalikes. First he puts Blake Lively, Freida Pinto and Rose Byrne on the front row. Then he enlists women, not girls, to model: Carolyn Murphy, Karen Elson, Frankie Rayder and so on. And then he sticks to his formula of, well, gorgeous all-American clothes that this season riffed on 'Big Sur meets big city'. Thats California (fringed bags, flowing skirts, peasant blouses, think hippy-bohemia) and New York or any global metropolis, frankly, with a Michael Kors flagship where a great coat, big fur, cashmere jogging pants, cocktail frock etc can be worn. If it sounds banal, its not. Its fantasy grown-up woman dressing. And dont we all fantasise about belonging in a glossy Michael Kors advert from time to time?
Street Style from NYFW 2014
Celebs front row at NYFW
