Lights, camera, fashion
Models from the Rodarte runway show during New York Fashion Week Courtesy of Mrs. Lynn Mills
Courtesy of Mrs. Lynn Mills
The bright white runway found in a sea of blackness. The flashes of the cameras go off. The music begins playing, and the applause starts. New York Fashion Week has begun.
Fashion Week took place September 9 through September 13 this year, and was staged in multiple locations throughout the city, including The Lincoln Center and private showrooms of the designers. Brands such as Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, J. Mendel, Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, were displayed during the annual fashion event.
Months and months are put into the designing of the outfits, styling, picking of the models, decorating the runway, and selling tickets. The end product of this lengthy process and hard work is over in about forty-five minutes, and planning for the next fashion event begins immediately.
“Fashion week throughout the city is a completely different vibe, you could be anywhere in the city, and you would see people walking around in stylish clothes, even if they aren’t attending any shows. Everyone comes together for these fashion events, it is altogether a different feeling throughout the city,” sophomore Corina Gonzalez-Molina said.
Mrs. Michele Haber, a guest of the runway shows during New York Fashion Week, attended the Oscar de la Renta and the J. Mendel exhibitions. She witnessed all the new trends, themes, and styles for Spring 2014.
The Oscar de la Renta Spring 2014 show occurred September 11, and was located in the offices and showrooms of the designer at 11 West 42nd Street on the 25th Floor, according to Mrs. Haber.
“It was a lovely intimate setting with a fairly small crowd compared to the J. Mendel show,” Mrs. Haber said. “The major spring trend for 2014 seems to be very feminine silhouettes. Oscar de la Renta has been known for his classic feminine styling. His clothes featured a lot of large black and white gingham patterns paired with solid black pieces. He also used a lot of lace and had dresses with the knee-length hemline in the front and a much longer hemline in the back which is very current this season.”
Courtesy of Mrs. Lynn Mills
According to Mrs. Haber, the Spring 2014 trends seem to be feminine silhouettes with “sorbet and ice cream colors” and “neutral clothes with elegant black and oyster colors.” This is the polar opposite of the very masculine trends of the past fall and most recent spring runway shows.
The J. Mendel show took place September 12 , and was jam-packed with light, bright colors and beautiful lace and silk.
“The J. Mendel clothes were stunning. The silhouettes were spectacular, they were very short but seemed very wearable. He combined lace and silk beautifully giving the outfits such interest and dimension. Many of his final gowns were very sheer and see-through but again seemed very wearable with a slip or cover,” Mrs. Haber said. “It was a very eclectic fashion crowd at the J. Mendel show, younger people with a lot of wild fashion choices.”
One of the dresses that was featured in the J. Mendel show, a long white lace gown, was worn by actress Kate Mara at the Emmy Awards this past week.
As usual, New York Fashion Week accommodates its fair share of celebrities, such as André Leon Talley, former editor of Vogue magazine, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, designers of clothing brand, “The Row”, billionaire Alec Gore, and actress Melissa George.
Show guests can often be found wearing clothes made by the respective designer, adventurous outfits, or some of their best looks for the fashion event of the year.
“The styling and lighting for the J. Mendel show made the girls look amazing. The Oscar de la Renta show had a more daytime lighting which is harder to pull off.” said Mrs. Haber.
Factors such as the lighting, design, and acoustics of the runway are all very important and add to the feel of the show and the collection.
“The setting of the Phillip Lim show, from Paris Fashion week several years ago was very similar to the setting of the J. Mendel show, large audiences all in blackness with the runway and models on a pure white platform,” Mrs. Haber said.
As the bright lights of the New York Fashion Week runways simmer down, the spotlight turns over to Europe for London Fashion Week and to France for Paris Fashion Week. The fashion industry is left with a variety of new trends, styles and imprints of the new Spring 2014 collections.
-Alexandra Dimitri, Staff Writer
