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NYFW FW20: top 10 shows
23rd February 2020 - Aina Matamoros
This season, NYFW lost some of his major participants, such as Ralph Lauren or Jeremy Scott, who postponed their shows, as well as Tom Ford (CFDA's chairman), who decided to present his new collection in LA (so I am going to count him in NYFW anyway). However, the fashion week did not disappoint. I must admit, though, that SS20 shows were more surprising for me.
The fall-winter collections were a bit more classic and serious. I really liked the fact that coats were the central pieces of several shows: coats are the only good part of the winter and cold weather, so they deserve credit.
Here are the top 10 shows for this NYFW FW20 season.
1. Tom Ford
As I already said, this season, Tom Ford decided to transport his show to Los Angeles and present his collection there, just right before the Oscars. And as he is the king of American fashion, everyone was there. I think he made this move to support American fashion all across the country and to make a statement as the CFDA chairman reclaiming LA's condition of a fashion city. LA will never be NYC, but more and more brands and designers are based there now, and it should be recognized.
As always, Tom Ford's FW20 collection was flawless. He mixed his characteristic elegance with the Californian chilling style, elevating denim jeans, sweatpants and leopard print pieces. After a section of total black looks, the show presented shiny pieces in pink and blue. The statement feathery earrings were one of the stars of the night, too.
The show ended with a nightwear section, where the sexiest tight transparent dresses worn by the Hadid sisters and Kendall Jenner stole the show and made the big finale Ford always does.
2. Rodarte
After some seasons not showing in NYC, Rodarte came back to the big apple to present the FW20 collection.
This collection mixed the characteristic Rodarte's romanticism and flowery dresses with more daring looks inspired in the goth aesthetic. Models wore an intense dark purple lipstick which transmits the feeling that they were vampires. Also, the location of the show, the dimly lit nave of St. Bartholomew’s Church in Midtown, helped to create this Dracula atmosphere.
The delicate pale-colored dresses, in floral or polka dots prints, and adorned by hair ornaments. opened the show and started to combine with the shiny black leathery looks. With this collection, the Mulleavys sisters made the Rodarte woman alive again.
3. Gabriela Hearst
Designer Gabriela Hearst was one of the first to start committing to more sustainable practices to create her collections. Now, as we enter the decade of the 2020s, it is her main goal and challenge to make this commitment true.
For the FW20 collection, she created some pieces out of reused and recycled materials, such as some of her already existing pieces of clothing that she recomposed in new pieces or creating designs entirely made from 100% sustainable fabrics. And as conscious as the collection was, it was also very beautiful.
Starting with a warm-colored section including camel, yellow, red, and also some rainbow looks, the designs were inspired a bit by the 70s, with pantsuits as the main garment and fringes as the main ornament. Then, the show made a turn into neutral colores, with beige, black, and white looks, including some perfectly tailored leather dresses or jackets; some of them were even adorned with some hand-painted details.
4. Carolina Herrera
Wes Gordon, Creative Director of Carolina Herrera, knows how to keep the brand's founder heritage alive, loyal to the flawlessly elegant style and perfectly tailored pieces.
The FW20 collection presented some colorful designs, starting the show with relaxed but yet very formal office-ready looks, which included some statement pieces such as coats, capes and long dresses. Then, more elegant and cocktail ready looks started to appear in the show, where the central pieces were dresses with big skirts, ruffles, and long and quite voluminous sleeves.
Timeless black and white combination designs were mixed with others in bright blue, yellow, red, green and pink, that remained as classy and gracious as every Carolina Herrera design always is.
5. Michael Kors
Not being his first country-inspired collection, Michael Kors's proposal for FW20 came strong, turning this cowgirls inspiration into smart and chic looks for a fast life, as he says.
The show started with layered looks including capes, statement coats, big knitted jumpers, high-knee leather boots, and some furry jackets and accessories, making everybody feel winter-ready and think they would be super cozy wearing those pieces. Black, grey, and brown tones mixed with some yellow and red coats that gave the color touches in the collection. Prince of Wales print provided elegance and cow-like prints provided the connection with the wild west side of the collection.
In the end, Kors also presented an all-black night-ready section, with some shiny dresses and more formal coats to go with them.
6. Prabal Gurung
Prabal Gurung is always one of my favorites for NYFW. He creates beautifully unique designs that always look great on a woman. Powerful dresses and suits with the right colors and ornaments that are a synonym of modern elegance.
The FW20 collection included some more relaxed looks, but the center of attention was the party-ready designs. The show opened with a flawless white pantsuit, followed by a black cutout midi dress (with the edges of the cuts covered in shiny stones) and then a pastel green pantsuit paired with a feathery white jacket. Three dreamy looks that made a statement from the beginning.
Then, the show got more colorful, including some animal and floral prints, and more lively, with ruffled tops and skirts.
The final part of the show included some gorgeous nightgowns, highlighting a chocolate brown satin dress, formed by a strapless top and a piece that went from one side shoulder to become the skirt on the other side, fully showing one of the legs, and a perfect princessy pastel blue tule dress, with a heart-shaped neckline covered in shiny stones.
7. Proenza Schouler
Having settled again in NYFW, Proenza Schouler's FW20 collection was sexy and fierce. Knitted dresses and statement masculine coats were the center of the show. They were styled in a way that one of the models' shoulders was uncovered, giving a fresh, more relaxed and also sexy touch to the looks. The color palette was pretty short, with black, white and olive green as the base tones, mixed with some brighter looks in bold red or shiny gold at the end. There were also some trendy leather dresses. For the accessories, almost every look was paired with leather over the knee boots and big shoulder bags, and some of them included a kind of diagonal cape as a new outwear proposal or the next season.
8. Khaite
Khaite was founded less than 4 years ago by Cate Holstein and it is already a cult brand for every fashionista. It all became huge a few months ago when Katie Holmes walked the streets of NYC in a Khaite knitted combo of bra and short cardigan and everyone became obsessed about those pieces (now you can find a version in every fast fashion store).
For (only) her third runway show at NYFW, the American designer presented a collection that could be defined with just one phrase: THE NEW SEXY. Bella Hadid opened the show wearing a golden zebra printed pants and an unbuttoned open knitted jacket showing her abs. The following looks were also fierce, including shorts and miniskirts, going-out tops, leather boots, jackets, long coats and pants, and a lot of animal print (both zebra and leopard).
9. Oscar de la Renta
The designers Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia presented a party collection for the FW20 season. There was a mix of daytime and (more of) nighttime looks and a mix of bright and soft colors. Something that may seem too much to handle, but they did it with the most perfect grace.
The show started with the daytime section, with Bella Hadid wearing a bright blue tailored coat paired with a maroon sweater. Ugbad, a model wearing a hijab, was the second to walk the runway, wearing the most perfect look combining a green/blue sweater with a pair of high waisted bright pink pants and a little blue clutch. The show went on presenting some more day time looks in red, grey and black, but it quickly changed to nighttime styles, starting with dresses with big puffed skirts and floral prints in pale pink and black. There was also a strapless bodycon red dress with a puffed skirt that began under the hips, another old shape that seems to be coming back. Colors such as gold, black, navy blue and silver were the stars in this nightwear section that, apart from the typical gown, also included pantsuits and combinations of top and pants. One of the looks was a reinterpretation of Scarlett Johansson's Oscars dress (which she had worn a week before the show) in black. The two final feathery looks were my favorites: the second-to-last dress mixed a black velvet long sleeve body with a white feathery skirt, short at the front and long at the back; the last look, worn again by Bella Hadid, was a dreamy short fuchsia velvet dress paired with an all feather hooded cape of the same color. Wonderful.
10. Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is always the one closing NYFW because you know he will not let you down. His FW20 show started with an unexpected group of dancers performing an abstract dance that introduced the looks.
The five initial looks were the same, they only changed in color: pastel yellow, pastel pink, beige, black, and white. Five looks that showed a clear inspiration in the 60s style, composed by a short dress, a short coat, shiny boots that became tights and a hair bandana and a piece of clothing that the models dragged on the floor. The show went on presenting minimal everyday looks in neutral and pastel colors, with only some Prince of Wales, leopard or zebra prints in a couple of pieces, and some furry coats.
At the half of the show, some shiny dresses started to mix with the pantsuits, masculine coats, and matching skirt and jacket combos. Then Miley Cyrus made a cameo walking the show wearing black low rise pants and a tiny black bra paired with leather long gloves and dragging a zebra coat. The show ended with a section of nightgowns, closing with two almost identical looks, one in bright blue and the other in bright pink, composed by a long dress in leather, with a big skirt starting right under the models' bust, a long coat of the same color and adorned by long satin gloves.