Michael Kors created a runway that evoked his own living room to set the tone for his new Fall/Winter collection for New York Fashion Week, which focused on comfort and movement.
"It’s about the idea of ease, which we Americans invented. The world dresses this way, but what I like is that it has glamour," Kors told The Associated Press backstage before the show.
The designer says he looked at old photos of icons like Lauren Hutton back in the 70s, and Zoe Kravitz on the street today to find the essence of the collection. "There’s this relaxed ease to how they look that I think is modern," Kors said.
"It’s also about layering things in a very cool way. So it could be... a silk dress, but grab your husband’s coat or his jacket and throw it on. It’s about stride. I like when clothes move when you walk."
Models let the clothes do the talking with very minimal makeup and loose, natural hair as they marched down an extended two-aisled runway. The show opened with softly tailored menswear jackets paired with long flowing skirts or slouchy suit pants.
For a modern twist on layering for the fall, the show featured bikini bra tops under oversized blazers — either alone or with long blouses layering in between.
"Delicious oversized, cardigan blazers and coats with these very sort of filmy, soft dresses. This show is anti-corset, anti-Spanx, anti-bustier. It’s that comfort and ease," Kors said.
Kors also heightened the show with touches of glamour in elegant dresses and jackets with swaths of sparkling sequins.
Black was a dominant color, with some grey, grey tweed and a few neutral colors including chocolate, green and deep purple. One standout material was long haired shearling-- in surprising colors like dusty mauve and celadon-- shown on a peacoat, a vest, several purses and even a pair of flat shoes.
Kors has always said every woman needs a great coat and he had plenty of options from leather trench coats belted tightly at the waist, to leather hipster jackets in several shapes, to one traditional trench-style, covered in liquid sequins which glistened in the light. There were cozy looks too, like long thick turtleneck sweaters – part of Kors' "neo-classic knitwear."
Extending the casual, comfortable style to the setting, Kors and his team transformed a giant, high-ceilinged space at New York’s Terminal Warehouse to look like his home, with exposed brick and wood accents, and even art and houseware pieces punctuating the end of each runway bench. Japanese paper lanterns hung from the vaulted ceilings adding to what Kors called his "warm modernism."
Celebrities flock to Kors shows and despite frigid New York temperatures, stars including Uma Thurman, Kerry Washington, Suki Waterhouse, Rose Byrne, Lea Michele, Cristin Milioti, and Rachel Zegler huddled together in the front row. Actor and reality star Lisa Rinna brought her daughter, Delilah Belle Hamlin, to watch her other daughter, Amelia Gray Hamlin, walk the runway.
"I can’t stop singing my praises about it," gushed actor-singer Suki Waterhouse, who called the show "absolutely stunning."
"Those drama-crazy hats, scarves that look like blankets. It was everything it needed to be."
Byrne said the clothes were "gorgeous" and so wearable. "(I’m) obsessed with the oversized suits already. The classic big coats, the beautiful chic dresses. Classic Michael Kors, he always delivers."
