NEW YORK, Sept 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – AFP takes a look at the highlights
from day three of New York Fashion Week on Monday.
– California dreamin’ –
Vibrant colours associated with California’s blooming season inspired Wes
Gordon’s third collection as creative director of Carolina Herrera.
The spring 2020 lineup showed that he is evolving the label since taking
over from the eponymous founder in 2018 rather than revolutionising it.
Pink, yellow, blue and orange were all prominently featured as Gordon, 32,
created shapes and prints inspired by nature.
Lilies and roses bloomed on chiffon and cotton while Gordon also had fun
creating sweeping polka dot gowns.
– Sandy Liang’s signature –
New York native Sandy Liang’s eponymous brand has come to embody an innate
sense of cool since launching in 2014, and Monday’s show enhanced that image
even further.
Liang, 28, has become synonymous with hip outerwear inspired by a
childhood spent growing up in Manhattan’s trendy Lower East Side, with
frequent visits to nearby Chinatown.
Through her work, she has made fleece jackets — her signature piece —
cool again thanks to her own nostalgia for the 1990s.
She drew inspiration from “when you’re a kid and you’re running around and
your mom throws a jacket on you. It was really fun to turn that into my own
thing. And now it’s its own thing in the collection every season,” she said.
– Barragan’s idea of Mexico –
Designer Victor Barragan has been challenging stereotypes about Mexico
since his first collection in 2016, repeatedly breaking with American clich,s
related to its southern neighbor.
His spring 2020 show again challenged the notion of the hypermasculine
Mexican male, injecting a sense of femininity through torn t-shirts and low-
cut tank tops that evoked female cleavage rather than male torso.
– Phillip Lim elevates everyday fashion –
Thailand-born Phillip Lim displayed a “utilitarian” collection stacked
with outdoor clothing suitable for the active man and woman, including
jumpsuits, baggy raincoats and leather scarves.
“That’s our DNA basically, clothes that we work in, clothes that we live
in. It’s about pushing what the uniform can be to make it more buoyant and
more refined,” he told AFP.
Prominent colors included a seaweed green, cobalt blue and mustard yellow.
The 45-year-old American designer also praised the decision by Fashion
Week organizers to reduce the length of the event from seven to five days.
“It’s nice. It makes everyone just sit up and take it more seriously
instead of letting the energy dissipate,” he said.
– Cornejo and innocence –
Chilean-born British designer Maria Cornejo wowed with a series of chic,
comfortable clothes such as structured jackets and fluid dresses, including
some in satin.
She told AFP that her show was about “the age of possibility.”
“Now we take for granted travel, technology, industrialization and so it’s
really incredible to find again that age, that naivete and that innocence. I
thought that was a nice way to try to feel fresh,” said Cornejo.