Calvin Klein and Khaite Kick Off Fashion Month In New York
This season, New York Fashion Week kicked off with threats of a looming snow storm. The promise almost felt like a metaphor for the broader backdrop right now: here in the US President Trump is ‘flooding the zone’ during his first weeks in office with a torrent of executive orders and government audits, spreading disquiet throughout many communities across the country. In the fashion world too, the mood feels chaotic, with a constant barrage of changes at the top of fashion houses big and small. (Just this week we had news of Sabato de Sarno’s shock exit at Gucci and new creative appointment at Area, hot on the heels of change at Proenza Schouler and Maison Margiela — and the dominoes have only just started falling: more announcements are expected imminently.)
Veronica Leoni’s hotly anticipated debut at Calvin Klein, then, was almost like antidote of sorts to all the chaos swirling around right now, with the Italian designer — and first female creative director at the brand — showing straight forward clothes that marked a return to the simple yet sensual minimalism of OG Calvin Klein.
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For Leoni, though, who came up behind the scenes at Jil Sander, Phoebe Philo-era Céline and The Row, it wasn’t about recreating the old: ‘We really try to be inspired by the archive, but do not get into any nostalgia,’ she explained backstage after the show. ‘We really tried not to get stuck in something that was looking too much into the past.’
It was the brand’s first runway show since Raf Simons left the label just over six years ago, an intimate affair staged at CK headquarters with the Calvin Klein and the Kelly Klein in attendance, sitting front row with the brand’s original muses Kate Moss and Christy Turlington (yes, it was a moment).
For her debut, Leoni offered a 24/7 wardrobe with her take on staple pieces: the coat, the cape, the suit, the silk blouse, the five-pocked trouser, the heeled pump. Tailoring was sharp yet elegant, at once not too buttoned up and not too undone; and fabrics were tactile, adding a layer of depth to the colour palette of mostly blacks, greys off-whites. ‘This was actually the biggest surprise,’ she said. ‘You think of Calvin as a very solid, plain-colour kind of brand. Well actually, [visiting the archive] you discover there were no flat fabrics. Everything was always extremely textured and extremely three dimensional.’
The understated sex appeal, too, was intentional: ‘It's more like an attitude,’ she explained. ‘It’s something that you kind of own in the way you wear the clothes, regardless of the silhouette, the amount of skin, or, you know, that kind of stuff — it's about the confidence.’
This sentiment could just as easily apply to Khaite’s collection, where Catherine Holstein tapped into her usual brand of effortless-and-elevated. She too turned to her staple of ultra-luxe fabrics (lots of leather, shearling and cashmere) to create clothes that ooze the kind of grown-up cool that just naturally embodies a certain confident sensuality.
Models walked a large circular yellow brick road-esque runway (a tribute to Holstein’s film hero, David Lynch, whose favourite movie was The Wizard of Oz) wearing chunky hand-knitted cropped jumpers teamed with leather pencil skirts; oversized boxy leather jackets thrown over sheer polo kits and tailored trousers; and denim tucked into thigh high boots. The pony hair leopard pieces were also a highlight.
Elsewhere, up and coming label Fforme also debuted a new creative director, Frances Howie, who focused in on the power of texture for her first collection. Hand-frayed ribbons decorated dresses, while frayed silk and crimped tweed made for sculptural hemlines.
And Christopher John Rogers made a triumphant return to the New York schedule after a five hiatus, his peers and industry fans coming out to support in full force (Aurora James, Jenna Lyons, Brandon Maxwell were among those sat front row). His collection, ‘Exhale’, was inspired by artists Angela de la Cruz and Hélio Oiticica, embodying ‘a spirit of defiance and individuality’.
'Exhale is a celebration of our roots — playful occasionwear imbricated with declarative workwear and daywear — and a continued effort to provide a space for our fantasies to flourish,' he wrote on Instagram after the show. ‘In a time when identity and personhood are globally challenged, the pursuit of one’s own happiness and autonomy can feel like a daunting but essential endeavor.’ Amid all the chaos, his message feels all the more pertinent.
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