New York Fashion Week: The Beginning of Something Great

Published February 19, 2013 on Fashionotes.com

The first day of fashion week is always the most exciting. The insane street styles and immense anticipation that comprise the inaugural day are like no other. The Lincoln Center was abuzz as were the various other studios involved in the week’s events. I personally decided to go off the beaten track to enjoy a few of my favorite designers’ shows, as my first taste of NYFW 2013.

My first day began at Industria Superstudio in the Meatpacking District. Here I was lucky enough to get a backstage view of the Duckie Brown collection. Ever since I visited Daniel Silver and Steven Cox at their Duckie Brown studio during a field research trip with Pratt, I’ve been transfixed with the beauty that can only be found in the distinctly Duckie menswear. The use of colors and themes not commonly found in men’s clothing, the extreme attention to detail and the structurally artful silhouettes kept me on the edge of my non-existent backstage seat.

I’ve always had a soft spot for men’s outerwear. So, it was not surprising that besides being distracted by the incredibly handsome models, I was swept off my feet by the beauty of the collection. Many of the coats had unexpected streaks of color; the first look to go down the runway, a gorgeous red overcoat, had a stripe of contrasting black while another overcoat, this time camel-colored, had a vertical stripe of pale pink. Alternatively, some pants had cuffs of contrast color peeking out from underneath. The nuances of the collection were like tiny treasures in an I-Spy book.

Just like in the clothing there came a surprise in the show, midway through, the music suddenly cut out. An audible gasp came from many in the crowd but I could see no tremor from the designers. The stylist standing next to me smugly pointed out that the whispers were in the music. And, the show continued without a hitch, with the music only resuming after the Duckie Brown team took their bow. Tasteful, compelling, and cunning, I was incredibly pleased to begin my fashion week with such a magnificent line.

In the evening I ventured to 450 Studios on West 31st for the Ivana Helsinki show. Arriving about fifteen minutes before the stated showtime, I found myself waiting in the lobby amongst a sea of eager attendees. Being the only Finnish fashion designer on the official IMG NYFW calendar, it was exciting to hear the twittering of the designer’s native tongue as I waited for the show to commence. The crowd was even able to catch a glimpse of Heidi Klum as she waded her way through the mass after an event she attended somewhere else in the building. When the floodgates were finally lifted, the fashion mob was whisked to the 12th floor to enjoy a little more space as the anticipation continued to build until the main attraction began.

The show was prefaced by a video (above) juxtaposing the models with elderly women wearing similarly styled up-dos as they glided across icy water in an eerily elegant yacht. From there, models were sent down the runway, hair fashioned in tight top buns just as in the video. The collection, labeled Rotterdam, used primary colors—mustard yellow, cherry red, and denim blue—along with black and white in a slew of stripes, patterns, and solids to illustrate 36 looks.

Watching the show, I felt as if I had been transported to a foreign land far from New York. The looks were decked with fascinatingly voluminous sleeves, peculiarly shaped yokes, loads of ruffles, and innocent peter pan collars. I can’t say it was innovative, but it was definitely a delight to behold. I imagine a girl pining for a simplified life sporting any number of these frocks; it is definitely not the typical look found in the Mercedes Benz tents. And, that’s exactly the way Paola Ivana Suhonen meant it: the clothes tell a story of a city much different from our own and summons nostalgia that we may not be able to comprehend.