Thom Browne Holds a ‘Teddy Talk’ in Playful Toy-Themed Show

The Thom Browne Fall 2022 collection is modeled during his fashion show at the Javits Center on Friday, April 29, 2022, in New York. (AP)
The Thom Browne Fall 2022 collection is modeled during his fashion show at the Javits Center on Friday, April 29, 2022, in New York. (AP)
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Thom Browne Holds a ‘Teddy Talk’ in Playful Toy-Themed Show

The Thom Browne Fall 2022 collection is modeled during his fashion show at the Javits Center on Friday, April 29, 2022, in New York. (AP)
The Thom Browne Fall 2022 collection is modeled during his fashion show at the Javits Center on Friday, April 29, 2022, in New York. (AP)

The 500 audience members were sitting in neat rows, and they’d definitely gotten the memo on attire: All were perfectly dressed in a classic gray Thom Browne suit.

They were very quiet, too, perhaps because they knew Browne’s show Friday evening was a special occasion, held in New York rather than Paris where he usually stages shows, to coincide with Monday’s Met Gala. But also probably because they were stuffed animals.

To be precise, these were teddy bears, lined in tiny chairs to hear a motivational “Teddy Talk.”

It was yet another Browne extravaganza, more a slice of theater or performance art than a runway show, this time with an unusually playful vibe. In his narrated script, Browne — a consummate showman who is also one of America’s most successful designers — sought to educate the crowd of bears and humans (in bigger chairs) about finding one’s authentic self. In this case, Browne was saying, we all have a “toy version” that’s more exaggerated and crazier, but one that’s worth connecting with.

How did this high concept connect to fashion? That’s a question that Browne answers, luckily, with ensembles that are small feats of creative engineering. Here, his toy-store theme extended from countless versions of his classic gray suit, trimmed and pleated in brightly colored silks, to his whimsical handbags and footwear, like the alphabet-block purses and platform shoes, or the “Hector” handbags, inspired by his own dog, extended to toy ponies and other nursery creatures.

The show, staged in an airy theater on Manhattan’s far west side, began with two huge doors opening on an imaginary shop. A few shoppers entered in tweeds and tall, stovepipe-like hats, a vaguely 19th-century look. One group together carried an extra-long “Hector” bag, with three sets of handles.

“New York, where you come to find yourself,” announced the soundtrack. “A lifelong search, a lifetime of questions … finally and completely answered.” The “Teddy Talk” was beginning.

The speaker or “head bear” was dressed in a signature Browne gray flannel short suit, but with a teddy-themed hat and bear-like shearling gloves and platform boots. Via the soundtrack, he told his bear-filled audience about his favorite New Yorkers who had been lost, until they came to this store, “to find their true selves.”

A procession followed of 25 smartly dressed adults, both women and men in various tweeds and flannels but with the classic looks brightened with bright colors — red, white and blue trim, or sometimes gold and green. Their hair was styled in dramatic topiary-like creations amounting to head-topping modern sculptures. But the fantasy element was yet to come: a second procession of 25 more models, each a “toy version” of one of the previous 25.

These human toys had splotchy makeup and exaggerated features. The toys they represented were old-school, like Slinkys, those classic colored alphabet blocks, or jack-in-the-boxes. Each “adult” element was exaggerated — sometimes literally blown up to fantastical proportions. Accessories were particularly fanciful, especially those alphabet-block shoes — literally piles of blocks which, it must be said, were better navigated by the female models than the men.

In the front row was recent Grammy winner Jon Batiste, in a checked Browne suit, and actor-musician Leslie Odom Jr. in a cream-colored shorts ensemble, among others. Vogue’s Anna Wintour, three days away from the Met Gala she runs, was next to Andrew Bolton, head of the Met’s Costume Institute and curator of the exhibit to be launched by the gala, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.”

The culmination of the sartorial storytelling was a “meeting” of the two groups, when both the adults and their toy versions came back out, then turned to face and actually speak to each other, laughing and smiling.

Models laughing and talking on the runway? That may have been the most unique element of all. “Finding your true self,” the speaker intoned at the end. “Unique. Authentic. Confident. Always be true to yourselves.”



Armani Couture Channels Black as Maestro Misses Paris Bow for 1st Time, Days from 91st Birthday

A model wears a hat during a presentation of creations for Giorgio Armani Privé during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection show at Palazzo Armani in Paris, on July 8, 2025. (AFP)
A model wears a hat during a presentation of creations for Giorgio Armani Privé during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection show at Palazzo Armani in Paris, on July 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Armani Couture Channels Black as Maestro Misses Paris Bow for 1st Time, Days from 91st Birthday

A model wears a hat during a presentation of creations for Giorgio Armani Privé during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection show at Palazzo Armani in Paris, on July 8, 2025. (AFP)
A model wears a hat during a presentation of creations for Giorgio Armani Privé during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection show at Palazzo Armani in Paris, on July 8, 2025. (AFP)

Armani Privé opened Tuesday under an unmistakable shadow. For the first time in the 20-year history of his couture house, Giorgio Armani was not present in Paris to take his bow.

Days from his 91st birthday and following doctors’ advice after a recent hospital stay, Armani reportedly oversaw the Paris couture week show remotely from home, a moment of absence that lands heavily for a designer who has shaped every one of his brand’s collections since its founding.

The show’s theme, “Seductive Black,” played out with literal and symbolic force on the runway: black in myriad forms, from liquid velvet and lacquered silk to pavé crystals and flashes of gold. Even the models’ makeup followed suit, rendered in shades of gray.

For some in the front row, the relentless palette felt pointed. Guests quietly wondered if the choice of black was a coded message from the maestro himself.

This is not the first major show Armani has missed this season. Just weeks ago, he was forced to sit out Milan Fashion Week for the first time in the label’s history, following a brief hospitalization.

According to the brand, the absence was a precaution to save energy for his Paris couture appearance.

For decades, Armani — often referred to as “Re Giorgio,” or King George, in Italy — has been both the creative and business force behind one of fashion’s last great independent empires.

The Tuesday collection balanced tension and control. After an uncertain start, including velvet jodhpurs and stark crystalline seams, Armani’s familiar codes quickly emerged: tuxedo jackets transformed into evening gowns with plunging lapels and floating bow ties, tailored blazers worn on bare skin and military-inspired equestrian jackets paired with slim velvet pants.

Bursts of embroidery and colored feathers provided a balance from the monochrome.

Armani’s recent absences have sent ripples through the industry. In a landscape dominated by conglomerates like LVMH and Kering, Armani remains the sole shareholder of his company, personally overseeing every collection for nearly 50 years. In 2024, Armani Group reported revenues of $2.5 billion, while Giorgio Armani’s personal fortune is estimated at $11–13 billion — even as the global luxury market faces headwinds.

Armani is widely credited with redefining men’s and women’s tailoring, pioneering gender-fluidity in fashion, and inventing celebrity red-carpet dressing, from Julia Roberts to Cate Blanchett. Yet the designer himself has acknowledged that age is now a reality to deal with and that pulling back could be a necessity.

Whether the monochrome collection was a deliberate metaphor or simply a showcase of discipline, “Seductive Black” felt personal — both a mood and a message, perhaps an understated nod to a master whose presence, even in absence, remains absolute.

As the show closed, the final bow belonged to the models alone. But Armani’s vision — uncompromising and unmistakably his — filled the room.