By Kelly Khizakia
The runway for New York Fashion Week’s Philosophy show in 2003. Credit: Michael Mandiberg
New York Fashion Week kicked off on Friday.
The week long event consists of multiple showcases including the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York, MADE Fashion Week, and several independent fashion productions throughout the city.
New York-based designer Nicholas K started the first round of fashion with showcases in the early morning.
First starting in 1943, New York Fashion Week’s history links to the Second World War. Those who worked in fashion then were unable to travel to Paris to see fashion shows, so an alternative was made called Press Week. Press Week was for fashion journalists to report on American designers.
Today, New York Fashion Week is one of four of the biggest and well-known fashion weeks in the world. With two events held annually, one in February and another in September, fashion week gains international attention.
This year, major designers like BCBGMAXAZRIA, Calvin Klein, Dianne Von Furstenberg, Trina Turk and Donna Karan New York showcased with Mercedes-Benz.
BCBGMAXAZRIA was included as one of the first lines to walk the catwalk on Friday, showcasing their 2014-2015 Fall-Winter collection. Check below for the full BCBGMAXAZRIA show held at the Theatre.
Alyson Kelly, a Humber post-grad student in the event planning and management program, attended this year’s fashion week in New York and helped out with a designer’s show.
Kelly has experience organizing events like music festivals, but had never helped organize a fashion show.
“Right when I arrived, it was like a scene from The Devil Wears Prada,” Kelly said.
Carrie Hammer, the designer, had never put on a fashion show, so this was a first for both the designer and Kelly.
Kelly said the designs from Hammer were not the conventional runway styles. They focused on empowering female entrepreneurs.
“She designs for role models, not the typical runway models,” Kelly said. “All the models were entrepreneurs and women with powerful job titles.”
Alyson Kelly is getting fitted here by fashion designer, Carrie Hammer, during New York Fashion Week in February 2014. Courtesy: Alyson Kelly
While Kelly had the opportunity to see New York Fashion Week prevail, another student has watched from afar.
Julia Morgan, a second-year fashion arts student at Humber College, has been keeping tabs on this year’s fashion week in New York, and said one particular designer was different than the rest.
“ADEAM stood out for me,” Morgan said. “She incorporated some pastel colours into her line, and she also included dark fall colours such as black and navy blue.”
ADEAM is designed by Hanako Maeda, who launched her own label of 15 pieces only three years ago in 2011. Maeda previously studied Anthropology and Art History at Columbia University, and her fashion designs incorporate art.
Morgan also said that Rebecca Minkoff’s line had lots of versatility.
“Rebecca Minkoff has a great line. Her ready to wear collection consisted of many basic items but would be easy to mix and match to create very different looks,” she said.
Other designers showcased their Spring/Summer collections for this year, including Custo and David Balmau, two brothers behind the designs of Custo Barcelona.
Their styles often refer to their time spent traveling around the world, which inspired them to create a fashion line.
They’ve been designing since the early 80’s, and this February’s line had lots of tribal prints and pastels. Check below for all of the looks and styles of their February 9th show at the venue, Salon.
Custo Barcelona Spring/Summer 2014 – New York.
Some of the featured designers in the production that are still waiting for the chance to show their styles on the runway this week are Zac Posen, Tory Burch, Badgley Mischka, BOSS by Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren.
This year’s February showcases end on the 13th.