Over the course of the year, fashion centers around the world prepared themselves to hold some of the most exotic and famous fashion icons to date. This round of fashion week provided unheard of and unseen representation throughout runways in the most majestic cities.
Moments before the start of Naeem Khan’s show, Trek6 was adding his finishing touches to the 20 or more feet tall runway background. Trek6 is a Miamian graffiti artist, flown to New York to participate in the making of fashion history. The elements of his art allowed the show to stand out more than its white wall counterparts. Throughout the piece he had his name graffitied, he was using various shades and hues of blue that helped highlight the white elegant pieces on the model’s bodies. This collaboration breaks down so many walls when it comes to street art. Most graffiti artists find themselves hiding their interest and profession away from the world. Embracing and presenting this type of art in conjunction with high fashion increases the appreciation for street art. At the end Khan walked out with Trek6 so that everyone could give him a standing ovation.
Dominating the fashion scene are brand names with reputations that are hard to push past. The fashion industry rarely allows new people in, especially because getting to the top is very hard. However, this year provided new designers and models a part of Fashion Week’s spotlight. VFiles’s fashion show consisted of all designers, models, and stylists from social media. Over the past decade, with social media becoming more integrated into daily life, it has helped expose individuals who deserve to establish themselves and revolutionize the fashion industry. The pieces presented in this show displayed surreal aspects, unisex lines, denim and vibrant colors. Exposure for these four new designers is not only a learning experience for them, but is also their opportunity to be lasting establishments in fashion.
The most aggressive part of the whole fashion week experience is not choosing the clothes, it’s casting the models. There is almost no diversity of models on the runway. Over these past years there has been a slight upward climb. Everyone is used to the white, tall, thin model. It is very hard to imagine many other types of models, until this year. FTL Moda ended with not just models but role models. The models were physically disabled and demolished the runway with their fierce looks and flawless posture. With their presentation, they determined for themselves what they can and cannot do. And they sure as hell can model. Futuristic and upscale are the words that embody the new line. Fondazione Vertical, a foundation which funds research labs to find cures for spinal cord injuries, ran this collaboration with FTL Moda. Models were flown in from all over the world in order to participate in this innovating and elegant show. Casting these models broke rules that should not have been placed in the first place.
Body image is an important concept for people. Fashion shows happen to feature one type, which causes those without this body type self-loathing at times. Chromat’s fashion show threw aside the idea of fashion-if-you-can-fit-it and brought out models that put everyone to shame with their curves. Also discarded were social constructions of gender. A spectrum of individuals walked in this year’s show. A round of applause is needed for the fashion show stereotypes that were stripped down this year. But this does not mean that this is where fashion shows should stay. In no way is this the limit. Diversity is still not at the level it should be, it should not be a trend or a phase, but permanent. The New York Fashion Show’s counterparts should take a look at the progress America has brought about and apply it to their shows. Beauty should not be put into this one clean-cut definition; it has many forms and representations. Everyone deserves an opportunity to feel beautiful and also to express his or her beauty.
Fiha Abdulrahman