Tom Ford, Jeremy Scott serve up a cacophony of color and a menagerie of prints at N.Y. Fashion Week
Two Los Angeles-based designers closed out the first official day of New York Fashion Week here with over-the-top colorful collections that included “pussy power” purses and shoes as well as over-the-knee Moon Boots.
The former came courtesy of Tom Ford, bedazzled onto shoes and a couple of tiny hard-sided handbags; the latter from Jeremy Scott, whose collaboration with the maker of the chunky futuristic footwear included silver metallic and fuzzy pink versions that ended a few inches south of the hip joint.
Moon Boots were all the rage in the 1980s, which makes Scott’s collaboration a timely one. References from the ’80s are cropping up all over the runways here this week. (And we’ve only got two days in the rearview mirror so far.)
Beyond that, though, Scott’s collection appeared to be focused squarely on the future — at least the version in Luc Besson’s 1997 stylish sci-fi film “The Fifth Element” (whose costumes, by the way, were designed by Jean Paul Gaultier). The collection was full of silver metallic jumpers, skirts and bra tops, black neoprene dresses with bustier-like overlock stitching details (in turquoise) and technical-looking strappy black harnesses that accented bright orange sweaters and skirts.
The retro-future vibe was heightened by styling the runway models with colorful blunt-banged wigs that called to mind the ’do sported by Milla Jovovich’s character in the Besson film.
Although Scott’s stock in trade is an overabundance of bright colors, tufts of fake fur and cartoonish graphics (none of which was lacking in his fall/winter 2018 offering), one of the collection’s most memorable looks was comparatively tame. It consisted of a blue hoodie-and-shorts combination styled with blue tulle that had been embellished with gold-colored detail to resemble circuit-board printing.
Then there’s Ford. His collection, which unspooled uptown at the Park Avenue Armory in the time slot just prior to Scott’s, was rooted more firmly in the ’80s but spun the color wheel just as enthusiastically. You saw a menagerie of leopard spots, zebra stripes and snakeskin prints in shades of lilac purple, cherry red and lime green, plastered across leggings, trench coats and strong-shouldered suits.
A few pieces that came down the runway — most notably sequin-covered mini-dresses and a voluminous jacket — managed to meld all of the above into something that looked like a color-saturated shift change on the African savanna.
There was a handful of tamer, more traditionally Fordian pieces in the range as well. Standouts in that department included a black velvet mini-dress with a fringed hem, and a black jumpsuit with triangular side cutouts formed by cinching the fabric at the breastbone with a classic black bow.
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