New York Fashion Week Returns For The First Time

For some time, fashion weeks around the world have been cancelled in response to the epidemic, so that when the spring and summer 2021 New York Fashion week shows this month, people still feel a bit unreal.

Affected by the local epidemic in New York, this fashion week was compressed to four days. Famous brands such as Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael kors, Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch and other famous brands did not appear at the event, but resumed the process according to their own rhythm: Michael kors adopted a new production schedule, so it was not held until October; Marc Jacobs chose to skip the whole "season"; Diane von Furstenberg, on the other hand, is stuck in layoffs and store closures. In this fashion week, about 60 designers chose to release the latest series of static blockbusters online through pictures, videos, movies, live broadcast, and so on. Only a few brands retained the offline fashion show mode. More than half of 2020 has passed, and fashion week seems to have nothing to do with the surging famous brand shows and Carnival crowds - fashion has become a "forced" trickle down, plain and desolate.

New York Fashion Week offline show hard to restart. Picture vision China

Stick to the offline show

Rebecca Minkoff and Chinese designer Jason Wu, who attended the New York Fashion Week in spring and summer 2021, are one of the few brands that adhere to traditional fashion shows. They all need to strictly observe social distance according to the New York authorities' rules: the elevators at the show site are limited to four passengers per trip, while others in urgent need of elevators can choose to take the freight elevator or take the stairs; the number of people in each show should be limited to 50, and the entrance, which used to be filled with well-dressed guests and uninvited viewers, has to be completely rebuilt.

On September 13, local time, Jason Wu, a Chinese designer brand, opened the curtain of the first physical fashion show after the epidemic on the roof of spring studios. In 2006, Jason Wu launched his first personal series in New York, and quickly won high praise in the fashion circle and the buyer's circle. He has become a very popular young designer in recent years. Although there are only 30 people on the scene this year, Jason Wu still hopes to convey the message of "a new beginning" and "Hope" through the new collection. The rooftop where the show is located is specially arranged into a sandy land with wooden paths winding through, surrounded by various palm trees and tropical plants. The sound of the sand waves instead of the background music enhances the immersive sense of leisure and vacation. This season, his clothes are highly consistent with the natural and romantic holiday style on the spot. Both dresses and shirts are mainly in bright colors. The Chinese hollow out printing is elegant and steady, while the round and wavy hollow out prints are added to the shoulders and hem, showing a different surprise.

Rebecca Minkoff was also chosen for spring studios. In previous years, she held fashion shows for her eponymous fashion brand, usually inviting more than 800 people. Although she knew in advance that the number of participants would be greatly reduced this year, she still insisted on holding offline release activities as planned. Even though the design of this year's gauntlet does not show off the typical features of New York, even though the design of the mask is not featured by the New York style. The show is also being broadcast live on instagram in a "watch and buy" mode. Minkoff revealed that her initial idea was to skip the season completely before deciding to hold a physical fashion launch. "The ecosystem of this industry needs to be strengthened and consolidated. It's not just a fashion week, it's about our expectations of a return to creativity and business," she told fashion business review

Tolerance and diversity fly together

In order to accommodate more designers' choice of online sales, the CFDA, the Organizing Committee of this season's New York Fashion Week, has created a digital platform, runway360, to showcase the brand's new collections or other creative projects. In the spring and summer 2021 series, designers are keenly aware that the epidemic has made people unable to go out, resulting in a surge in demand for indoor home decor - even when they are stuck at home, people don't give up dressing up in style. In recent years, Anna Sui, a hot brand, and Tom Ford, who came to the stage last year, have launched pajamas, living clothes and other items at the same time. They also let models wear masks, trying to break the stereotype of conventional household clothes and epidemic prevention equipment with gorgeous style.

Designer Anna Sui made her mark at New York Fashion Week 40 years ago and has been a frequent visitor since then. It is said that this year is the first time since 1991 that she has not held a physical fashion show at New York Fashion Week, but she still brings her latest designed mask through videos and pictures. Through the combination of girl color matching and gentle small print, a small mask becomes an indispensable fashion ornament on people.

In addition, many designs not only convey fashion ideas, but also present progressive concepts such as pluralism, equal rights and environmental protection, showing the social responsibility of fashion brands. The New York Fashion week also launched a platform called Harlem & apos; s fashion row. This virtual platform aims to maintain the diversity of fashion by displaying more works of black designers. This season, it brings works by black designers Kristian lor é n, Kimberly goldson and rich fresh in the form of virtual display cabinets. Meanwhile, NBA player Carmelo "Mello" Anthony has launched a new streetwear branch line, expanding its own clothing and lifestyle brands, and taking it as part of the stayme7o propel initiative to encourage black designers to show their creativity. Sports brand chromat released the movie "joy run" produced by filmmaker tourmaline, and invited cross gender track and field star Terry Miller as the protagonist to advocate fair participation of people of all sexes in sports activities.

The digitization of the show also provides a valuable opportunity for more emerging designers to be exposed to the public without having to invest in expensive on-site display costs. Ten emerging U.S. brands, including former yeezy designer Maisie Schloss, were unveiled at the fashion week. She has created a new range for her brand Maisie wilen, which includes styles such as ultra wide leg boots and glittering tinfoil like dresses, which are bold and comfortable.

The significance of fashion week is beyond fashion

After several months of isolated life and work, uncertain economic sources, coupled with social and emotional unrest, many designers prefer to create some more deterministic elements in aesthetics. They hope to express clearly the world they want to see in the future and the way they live in it.

A few weeks before the official launch of the New York Fashion Week's spring / summer 2021 collection, Wes Gordon, creative director of fashion brand Carolina Herrera, presented his first short film dialogue during the outbreak, in which he and the retired founder of the brand, Carolina Herrera, discussed and traced back the essence of fashion. The founder told him that fashion is rooted in everyone's lifestyle. "It's the way you interact with others, it's a flower on the table, it's your family, it's laughter, it's a dinner party, it's the happiness around you." Explaining his understanding of fashion to the Washington Post, he sighed: "the pursuit of design and beauty is more important than what you wear."

For Gordon, it was only recently that he returned to his office on Seventh Avenue and had a face-to-face work with his design team. Since this year's fashion week is really quiet, they only need to focus on creating 50% less than the usual 800-900 categories. The usual bustling fashion showrooms are almost empty, except for occasional zoom meetings with retailers. It was not until the fashion week that several sewing machines were able to creak again in the studio.

This season, Gordon's design has become a bit subtle - the bow shaped dress fits tightly to the body, the silk skirt is decorated with simple dots, and the skirt looks like a huge flower. Without the ostentatious elements of the limelight, these stable and conservative designs are more or less mirror like, reflecting that the fashion industry has not yet returned to its full speed state in its heyday. But Gordon is sure that the resilient fashion industry will return to its former glory in the near future. "I grew up in Atlanta and wanted to be a designer from a young age. Because I love the fashion industry, I choose to stay in New York for internship and work. The magic of New York Fashion Week always appeals to me. " "I trust it more than ever," he said. We will not miss New York Fashion Week, and we will never give up. "

Store closure and current restriction, big brand leaving, order cancellation, fashion retail downturn, independent designer in turmoil In the past six months, it is difficult for anyone to maintain their enthusiasm for fashion industry and fashion week. According to the data, fashion practitioners account for 4.6% of the local labor force of private enterprises in New York, and a normal fashion week can stimulate a chain reaction of $600 million worth of local economy in New York. So, on the economic level, there is no doubt that the city needs fashion. In addition to money, it is more abstract in people's minds to insist on holding the 2021 spring fashion week. Perhaps, this significance has nothing to do with fashion itself, but more about the determination of the whole fashion industry to survive and return to happiness.

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